Lightning
by May Portland
Summary: Movieverse. Jeff remembers the rumors he heard about a certain mountain in Colorado so many years ago. Could they actually be true? Crossover with Stargate SG1.
1. Part I

**Lightning **

_"Movie-verse. Jeff reminisces the rumors he heard about a certain mountain in Colorado so many years ago. Could they actually be true? (Crossover with Stargate SG-1)"_

After SG-1 encounter one of their most unwanted enemies, they have to make a big sacrifice in order to escape – but when they reach Earth, nothing appears to be the same. Up in Thunderbird 5, John notices the high-leveled energy outburst in Colorado, but Jeff has his doubts about what happened. Could the rumors he heard so many years ago actually be true?

Disclaimer: Thunderbirds: The Movie is © Universal Pictures. Stargate SG-1 is © MGM.

**Author's note: As of June 1st, this story is completely revised, double checked and I've also added a bonus chapter, mostly because I wasn't satisfied with the original ending, but also because you, my readers 'n reviewers thought that the original ending was too abrupt. The new ending, however, is not just simply chapter one re-posted, as I think some people may have misunderstood - to fully comprehend it, you'll have to read very carefully. Anyway, I truly hope you like the renewed version of _Lightning_. Enjoy! –May Portland.**

_Part I_

_WOOSH_-

As the wormhole had roared to life, and General Hammond's '_SG-1, you have a go_' sounded all over the gate room, the four members of Stargate Command's all-famous team walked into the watery liquid.

But what SG-1 didn't know, was that one their most unwanted enemies was standing at the other side of the gate, not knowing what to expect when the chevrons of the Stargate at their side started to encode, though no one from his squadron had dialed any planet. So, it had to be an incoming traveler…

As the man yelled, "Guards!", his men responded quickly and formed a line directly opposite the gate, aimed and ready to fire.

The men waited patiently for the chevrons to lock, and when the wormhole formed its usual watery liquid, they tightened their grip on their weapons and their fingers were aching to shoot.

"Oh, boy…" was the first thing Dr. Daniel Jackson, SG-1's translator and archeologist, let out. "That doesn't look very good."

Jack, or Colonel Jonathan O'Neill, the officer in command of SG-1, let out a grunt. "No kidding."

Suddenly, he saw the face of his best friend ever, Apophis. "Oh, well…" he sighed. "When you think things can't get worse…" But Jack stopped talking as soon as he saw the face of his fellow team member Daniel, full of anger and hatred. Jack wasn't really surprised though. In fact, he'd expected something like this would eventually happen. Hell, he'd probably do the same thing if your mortal enemy – in this case Apophis – had imprisoned hiswife, and then unwillingly used her as a host for a Goa'uld.

Jack sighed. With an entire unit of serpent guards, the situation was pretty hopeless. Apophis however, was on the contrary to Jack, very pleased.

"And I thought this day couldn't get any better. If that isn't the infamous Tau'ri and the shol'va Teal'c walking straight into my hands."

"You know us, anything to make you happy," Jack bit back, while assessing their situation.

_Twenty serpent guards, one Apophis, four SG-1 members. Hiding places?_ He heard the Stargate behind him disengage. _Make that one. One problem though. We need to get closer to the DHD, instead of backing away. Problem two: how are we supposed to get the gate up and running while we're surrounded by a bunch of trigger-happy serpent guards?_

But Apophis interrupted Jack's deep thoughts by giving the solution to all of Jack's problems, though he was unaware of that, of course.

"You will make a perfect asset to my plan. You there!" he yelled, while pointing at Daniel. "Give us the address of the Tau'ri world."

_Damn_, Jack thought, as he heard Daniel say 'No'. _There goes my plan._

But instead of becoming even more desperate, a new plan developed itself in his mind.

_If I dial Earth, I can give Daniel, Sam and Teal'c the chance to escape. But before any of the serpent guards can follow, I'll attack Apophis hand on hand, so that the guards will focus their attention on me. Hopefully, I'll buy enough time for the Stargate to disengage, or at least for closing the iris, before the serpent guards will continue their pursuit._

But even before he had the chance to say '_I'll do it_', Teal'c said the exact same thing, and when he looked to Jack, the Colonel knew that he was also planning to do the exact same thing.

He was about to say something along the lines of '_No Teal'c, damnit, don't sacrifice yourself like that, I'm the damn leader of SG-1, it's my damn duty to sacrifice myself in order to save my team!_', but realized that it would shatter the entire plan, so Jack decided to stay quiet, when Teal'c dialed Earth and the wormhole behind him came to life. He turned to Carter, and she nodded, to show that she understood what they were planning to do. She pressed the GDO button for SG-1's iris signal and knew this was the moment. He looked at Teal'c, who also nodded.

"On my mark…" Jack whispered. "Three, two, one… NOW!" he yelled, and jumped into the Stargate.

While Jack, Daniel and Sam traveled across the galaxy, Teal'c grabbed Apophis around his waist and threw him on the ground. The serpent guards were, to say at least a bit confused. Neither of them really knew how to react – some of them quickly grabbed Teal'c, helping Apophis on his feet again, but the major part of the group decided to open fire – on the gate.

One could say that opening fire on an active Stargate wasn't such a bright idea. Especially not, when a couple of bad-aimed shots from several staff weapons hit the ring itself. The Stargate started to shudder violently, and electric sparks were appearing all around it. Teal'c, held tightly by two of his former colleagues, could only watch, when smoke started coming out of the gate, and it finally disengaged – before any of the serpent guards could step into the gate. He made a quick wish that everything was fine with his fellow team members, before someone knocked him unconscious.

* * *

Somewhere in the middle of the South-Pacific ocean, on an isolated island surrounded by bright blue water and white beaches, and filled with all sorts of tropical plants, was the Tracy residence, where life was peaceful and quiet. 

The many occupants of the house were either relaxing in the sun, swimming in the pool, eating a sandwich – or in Brains' case, designing some high-tech multi-functional tool.

Jeff took a bite of his fruit-salad sandwich, and enjoyed the moment of true peace. He saw three of his sons, Scott, Gordon and Virgil, swimming – no, wait – trying to drown each other in the swimming pool and Alan and Tin-Tin both relaxing in the sun on two comfortable chairs. Jeff looked up at the sky. His last son was up there, in a geostationary orbit around Earth. Sometimes he felt sorry for John, that he had to miss moments like these. Instead of having fun with his brothers, or in this case fighting for his life in the pool, he was sitting there all alone, watching the stars and events that happened on this planet. The satellite had practically become his second home – John spent more time in number 5 than down on Earth. Jeff was glad though, that one of his sons had volunteered to go up there, several months at a time, because he was sure that he couldn't make such a heart-wrenching decision on his own, sending one of his five sons to outer space. Oh yes, of course they would all be willing to help their father out, but none of them would actually be looking forward on spending such a long time in the satellite-station, all alone.

* * *

About 7500 kilometers higher, John didn't have time to think about that. He was just having his lunch, when something on the console desk started to blink. John sighed, and put his sandwich away. He took his place behind the consoles. 

"Let's see what we got here…" he said, while trying to figure out what exactly had interrupted his lunch.

He soon found out that there had been a weird occurrence, somewhere in North-America. Not exactly sure what it was, he decided to contact his father. "Thunderbird 5 to Tracy Island. Dad, come in."

* * *

As soon as Jeff realized there was an incoming message from the son he had just been thinking about, he rushed to his office, and turned on the monitor. 

"Thunderbird 5, this is Tracy Island. What's up, John?" Jeff asked, when he saw his second eldest son appearing on screen.

"Hey, dad. A few minutes ago, radars picked up an unusually high energy outburst somewhere in Colorado."

"How high?"

John smiled. "Believe me when I say very high. Anyway, I just did some research, and the mountain where I picked up the outburst, seems to have been related to some top secret USAF-projects."

Now, Jeff was a bit confused. "Hold on, John – so this energy outburst came from the top of a mountain-"

"Negative." John interrupted his father. "It didn't come from the top. It was from underneath the mountain."

"And it's related to some old USAF-projects." Jeff stated. He didn't like the suggestions this statement raised.

"That's right," his son continued. "I don't know yet what exactly happened and what those projects were, but I'm busy researching…"

"FAB, John. Let us know when you find out anything else. Until then, we'll be on stand-by."

"FAB, Dad. Thunderbird 5 out."

When the screen went blank, Jeff didn't move. John had just confirmed something, Jeff didn't want to be involved in. Not now, not back then. Back in his army days, he had heard the rumors. Everyone had heard the rumors, but no one knew exactly what it was. But, fact was that everyone knew something big was going on in a top secret facility somewhere in a mountain in Colorado. Some said they were developing a major weapon, some said they were genetically manipulating and cloning people, but the most popular theory was – certainly after the release of the '96 movie Independence Day – that the secret base was in fact Area 51. Jeff didn't really believe it though, because his mind was at that time occupied with something else – the death of his wife and his early retirement from the Air Force.

But now, almost 15 years later, one of his sons had witnessed it. Something was still going on there, but what? Though Jeff was curious to find out, he decided to wait until John had found out some more information, because he didn't want to send any of his sons on what very possibly could be a suicide mission.

* * *

So peaceful, so quiet… Jack liked the place he was, though he didn't know exactly where it was. He felt like he could spend eternity there, and… did he just hear someone calling his name? 

"… Jack…"

_Sam?_

"… come on Jack, don't leave us here…"

With a shock, he opened his eyes, though he couldn't see much. The place he was in, was pitch black. If Sam hadn't called his name in the first place, he probably would've believed that he was all alone.

He could feel the floor beneath him, and – oh yeah, all the bruises that covered his body. It was then that he remembered what happened. Stargate, Apophis, serpent guards, Teal'c-

"Teal'c?" he asked, though he already knew the answer.

"I'm sorry, sir…" came the gentle reply from his second in command. "We haven't seen him."

Jack sighed. "Well… I don't blame you. I can't see anything either."

At that, Sam had to grin a little, despite their situation. "No, that's true."

"And Daniel?" Jack asked, worried that yet another team member might not have survived their latest mission.

"Over here." Daniel said, from somewhere near Jack.

"Where?"

"Here."

"Yeah, but – oh, never mind. Carter, status?"

Sam hesitated. "Eh, bad, sir. Although I am positive that Teal'c dialed the right address, as you can see, we've ended up somewhere else…"

"No kidding, huh."

"I don't know how long we've all been unconscious, but I was the first to wake up. A few minutes later Daniel joined me, and again a few minutes after him, you did."

"So, where are we exactly? And how come it's so dark in here? I mean, we've got flashlights, right?" Jack said, already searching for his.

"Well sir, I think it's some sort of cave, chamber – I don't know exactly, it's made of metal, but no one's been here in a really long while, I think. I haven't had the chance to check it out properly. And the fact that we're not using flashlights – in case we have to travel in complete darkness trying to find our way out of here…"

"Good thinking, Carter," Jack said. "And how are you both doing?"

"Pretty good, some bruises, but I'm okay considering our circumstances and the fact that…" Her voice faded away.

Jack nodded, although he knew it was useless; because no one could actually see it. "And you, Daniel?"

Silence.

"Daniel?"

"If you really need to know, I'm a little angry. First, he takes my wife and now one of my best friends! Excuse me for being mad at him, but right now, I feel I could kill with my bare hands and-"

Jack tried to calm his friend down. "I know Daniel, I know…"

"No, Jack," came Daniel's reply. "I don't think you know. But since arguing isn't going to help us out of here, I suggest we gear up and get out, 'cause this cave is really starting to give a major headache."

As Jack found his flashlight, he switched it on, and nodded again. "You're right. Folks, let's get the hell out of here. Does anyone see an exit or something?"

Daniel and Sam both switched their lights on, and went searching for a way out.

"Negative, sir. I see lots of debris, mostly pieces of metal… hold on," she said, while walking towards a corner of the cave. After examining the piece of metal that lay on the ground, she quickly called her CO. "Sir, take a look at this."

"What is it?" he asked, while trying not to trip over any debris as he walked towards her.

"Sir… this looks like a piece of the iris."

"_What_? Are you sure?"

"I'm almost positive, sir…"

Suddenly, Daniel interrupted. "Hey guys, I think you should see this."

As Jack and Sam had reached Daniel he continued. "Do you see this?" He pointed his flashlight to a high wall. "What do you see?"

Carter gasped, as she looked at the ceiling. "A reflection of the light. Which means…"

"There is glass there." Jack said, and looked behind him, at the Stargate. "At the exact same spot of the window in the gate room. Which means…" He directed his flashlight to the right side the room. "… the door should be there."

All three of them looked at the place where the door should be. It was there.

"What the hell?" Jack exclaimed. "Where _are_ we?"

"Eh, sir," Sam said, hesitating a bit, "I think the question is: _When_ are we?"


	2. Part II

**Lightning**

_Part II_

"Tracy Island to Thunderbird 5. What have you got, John?"

John sighed. "Unfortunately, not much – yet. The stuff about that mountain is so highly classified that our computer's having a hard time cracking theirs."

"But?"

"I'll crack it eventually. Don't know how long it'll take though. My guess… a few more hours and I'll have it done."

"FAB, John. Tracy Island ou-"

"Oh – wait a minute, dad." John said with a deep frown on his face. "I think you might want to take a look at this. I'll put it through to your screen, hold on…"

As the screen turned from John's face to real-time heat sensor image of the mountain's environment, Jeff's face became pale white when he saw three red dots coming out of the mountain – there was _still_ something going on there. "I'll send someone immediately, John. And keep a close eye on them."

"FAB, dad. Thunderbird 5 out."

After Jeff had turned the monitor off, he immediately grabbed the intercom. "Scott, my office. Now."

* * *

"Yes!" Jack exclaimed. "Finally, light!"

"Well, it was about time we saw some." Daniel said, while leaning to some rocks. "After half an hour in that damn elevator shaft I was beginning to think we'd never get out of there. Whose brilliant idea was it to climb up that thing in the first place?"

Sam grinned. "If I remember correctly, it was Jack's. But look at the bright side of things – we finally made it."

Jack nodded in agreement, while taking a look at their environment. "Just take a look at this, guys. It's exactly the mountain, only-"

"-like no one's been here in years." Daniel added. "Any idea what happened?"

"Eh…" Sam started, but hesitated to continue. "Well, basing on what I'm seeing right now, and what I saw back down there… I'm thinking time-travel."

"What?" Jack nearly shouted. "As in the whole 'temporary prime directive'-deal? 'Cause, you know, just _watching_ that show always gave me a pretty big headache."

"I know, sir… but it's the only thing I can think of. Why else would the SGC be abandoned? I mean, we've only been gone for what – half an hour? And besides, Albert Einstein proved-"

"-that he was a great man, and I'm sure it's all very fascinating, Carter – but right now, it's a bit of our problem," Jack answered. "So folks, what are our options?"

For a moment, there was an awful silence, and Daniel shrugged. "I have no idea."

"Carter?"

"Sir… I think we should get help from the outside. Right now, I'm a bit puzzled about how to- wait a second…"

"Speak, Carter. Please?" Jack asked, willing to accept any option, as long as it could help them back to 1999.

"Well, since this gate is useless – no power to initiate it again… that doesn't mean that the second gate is too. And if we figure out what caused us to jump through time, we can travel back to another planet and try to accomplish the same thing that caused us to end up here instead of '99."

"But?" Jack asked, knowing that there also was a downside to the whole plan.

Carter sighed. "We still gonna need help from the outside. I can't just use any random computer to crack the NID computers, assuming the NID still has the 'old' records of the SGC…"

"I'll take that bet." Jack muttered under his breath.

"… it requires a very powerful computer to hack into those computers and locate the second Stargate. And besides, we don't know for _sure_ that the second Stargate is still up and runnin'. For all we know, it could be… I don't know, at the bottom of the ocean or something."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "I hope not. Anyway, how are we gonna do all that? I mean, we're still in our military outfit, and it's not like people are willing to help a bunch of army men claiming to come from the past."

"Unless of course, we're that far into the future that mankind is used to travel through time," Daniel said, surprised by his own sudden knowledge. "Sam?" he asked, hoping that for once, he had something about the whole technology-deal right.

"Eh…" Carter hesitated. "I don't think so…" As the archeologist sighed, she continued. "… basing on the disintegration of the metal… I'd say ten to fifteen years. Maybe twenty. And mankind couldn't have developed technology like that in such a short time."

At that, Jack had to laugh a little. "Well, basing on what _I_ have seen these last few years, I wouldn't be al that surprised if they had. So, what do we do next?" He asked, looking from the archeologist to his second in command. "Well, on your feet! We're gonna have to start somewhere if we want this ingenious plan to work…"

* * *

"Wow." Scott said, still slightly overwhelmed by what his father just told him. "So, you want me and _Alan_ go check on some people who just happen to mysteriously appear out of a mountain? I'm sorry to say this, dad… but doesn't that seem a little inappropriate for International Rescue to handle?"

"No, it doesn't. Scott, if the rumors are true, there could be something inside that mountain, very possibly a big threat to humanity if it falls into the wrong hands. And as far as we know, the only three people alive and well-aware of what the hell is down there, are out here, on this planet, somewhere. We need to find them for someone else does – I'm sure you know who I mean…"

Scott nodded. Yeah, he knew that man far too well for his own good.

"… because if they are taken, God knows what they'll do with that thing down there…" Jeff's voice faded away, but Scott knew all too well what the consequences could be.

No, of course Scott would never refuse a mission. No, it was just that he had a bad feeling about this one. It wasn't the fact that Alan had to accompany him on this 'trip' – despite Scott knew that Alan was a hazard with most machines, it was something else that bothered him…

Jeff noticed the worried look on his eldest son's face. "What's up, Scott?"

The son in question just shrugged. "Oh, nothing I guess… it's just – I've got a bad feeling about this mission," he sighed. "But it's probably just paranoia or something."

"Look…" Jeff tried to reassure his son. "It's probably because this mission isn't like any of your others. But I'm sure everything will go just fine. Gordon and Virgil are both ready for some action – you just have to scream and they'll be there. John and I are both keeping a very close eye on you, there's _nothing_ you have to worry about."

Scott sighed. The speech his father just gave, remembered him about the moment, a few years ago, when he was just about to go on his very first solo mission – his dad had said the exact same things. And just as his father had promised him before take-off, everything had gone as it was supposed to.

"And besides," Jeff added with a smirk. "You've always got Alan to rely on."

Scott smiled. "I know. But… not that I mind him going with me, dad… but why Alan? Gordo and Virg both have a lot more experience in missions like these."

"Ah, but that's the catch." his father answered.

The pilot of Thunderbird 1 had to sigh again. There always was a catch.

"No uniforms for you this time. I want you to park her in forest next to the mountain, and try to locate and follow those people. I hope that I'll have Lady P standing ready by that time, so that she can take them… some place _safe_."

"But why Alan?"

"Well, I figured you and Alan resemble the most… and by looking at the way you two _treat_ each other, I'm sure no one can blow you cover when acting as two normal brothers on a small vacation. Got it?" As Scott nodded, he continued. "Where's Alan anyway?"

Scott smirked. "Oh, I'm sure he and Tin-Tin are…" But when he looked at the face of dad, he quickly added: "… swimming or something."

"Well, get him here," Jeff said. "The sooner you leave, the better. I don't know how long John can keep them in visual range."

"FAB, dad." Scott said, before he went searching for his younger brother.

* * *

SG-1's translator and archeologist sighed. His boots weren't made for walking, that much was for sure. "You know, this officially sucks. How long have we been walking? Two hours? Three? I knew the Cheyenne mountain wasn't anywhere in the vicinity of a populated area, but by car it never looked _this_ far!"

"Come on, Daniel." Jack said to his fellow team member. "I know it sucks, but it's not that far anymore. Right, Carter?"

Sam nodded. "I agree. I think – fifteen minutes, maybe more, maybe less. But it certainly isn't that far anymore."

"See, Daniel? You heard Sam – let's move out, people. Again."

* * *

A loud siren could be heard all over western Tracy Island, signaling that Thunderbird 1 was about to take off. Three people – Jeff, Virgil and Gordon – had assembled in IR's control room, watching the high-speed craft take off in the direction of Colorado.

"Status, Thunderbird 1?" Jeff asked from the control room.

"All systems green, ETA 22 minutes." Alan answered.

"FAB, Thunderbird 1," Jeff said, still proud to see his youngest son's face on one of IR's vehicles. "What about you, John?" he said, switching channels to the massive communications satellite. But as soon as he saw the face of his second eldest son, he knew it – bad news.

"To make a long story short – it doesn't look very good for Scott and Alan. There's a big storm coming their way, unleashing it's thunder and lightning on the area around the mountain and a nearby city, Colorado Springs, in about fifty minutes. Second, the three people you asked me to watch over are about to enter a highly populated area. Once they do so, I'm afraid it'll be harder to track them down. So, my advice to Scott and Alan is to get there as soon as possible, before the storm breaks loose, and before I lose our mystery guests."

"FAB, John," Jeff said. "Alan, Scott – did you copy that?"

"Loud and clear, dad," Alan replied. "Our ETA is now 19 minutes, so that gives us either half an hour to a - search those people, b – find cover, or c – wait."

"I agree with Alan," Scott joined the conversation. "This situation doesn't look good, dad. John's about to lose those people out of sight, and there is no way we can find them in half an hour."

Jeff sighed, and switched once again back to Thunderbird 5. "John?"

"I think it's best to let them decide for themselves… but maybe you want to take a look at this first. I'll send it through."

Once again, Jeff's face turned pale white as he watched the information that now filled the screen of his computer. "Where did you find this stuff?"

"Well, the computer's far from finishing cracking the highly classified stuff – the only thing I managed to decrypt yet is a complete personnel list from the so-called 'infirmary'. Beats me why they needed an infirmary in an underground facility, but… I don't know."

"FAB, John, we'll keep in touch." Jeff switched back to the screen that viewed Thunderbird 1's cockpit. "Alan, Scott, I'll get back to you two as soon as possible. Right now, I have some other things to take care of…"

"FAB, dad. Thunderbird 1 out."

As Jeff turned the computer off, he turned around and saw the faces of two of his other sons, both very confused. "What was that all about, dad?" Virgil asked.

"To be honest – I have no idea. But what I do know, is that I've got some things to ask Brains…"

* * *

The sight of a populated area had never looked as good as it did at the moment SG-1, or at least three members of SG-1, stood at the edge of Colorado Springs.

"And now what?" Jack asked. "We can't go our own homes, and it's not like these people here are going to invite three people in, all dressed up in combat gear, who also happen to look like bunch of mine-workers thanks to that lovely climb up in the elevator shaft."

"I confess," Daniel suddenly said, showing his wallet.

"We _love_ you, don't we Sam?" Jack said, while kissing Daniel's wallet.

Sam grinned. "We sure do." She grabbed the wallet out her CO's hands and looked at the amount of money in it. "Let's see… oh, that'll do. We gotta buy some clothes, bags, food and a place to sleep, unless you prefer the streets."

"We don't," Jack said quickly. "But… bags?"

"Well sir, I don't think people are going to appreciate us carrying weapons on the street scene, unless it's _the_ fashion item nowadays, but I doubt that… and I don't feel like leaving my weapons behind."

"Good thinking, Carter. You do the shopping, we'll wait here."

"Yes, sir… but why?"

"Well, someone's gotta keep an eye on the weapons that you leave behind, 'cause the shop owner is _so _not gonna appreciate guns in his shop."

"True sir, but-"

"And besides – men don't like shopping."


	3. Part III

**Lightning **

_Part III_

"_Alan, Scott, listen carefully. I want you guys to blow up that mountain. After that, head to an abandoned farm just a couple of miles north of the mountain, park Thunderbird 1 and get to the city as fast as you can. Find yourself a place to stay, 'cause Lady P is not going to make it on time. Flat tire…_"

Alan wasn't entirely sure he'd heard the last part right, but one thing was for sure: did he really heard his father say 'blow up that mountain'? 'Cause it was not like his dad to make decisions like that so quickly, without consulting involved persons first…

However, his deep thoughts were interrupted by Scott, who apparently had been thinking the same things as Alan.

"Now I'm actually starting to wonder what's down there, you know. It sure scared the living crap out of dad, since he ordered us to blow it up, without asking someone who's involved about it first…"

"I know," Alan replied. "It's just not like Dad to do something like that, unless…"

"Unless _what_?"

"You know, remember the '_Alan, Scott, I'll get back to you two as soon as possible. Right now, I have some other things to take care of_?'"

Scott was getting more and more confused. "Yeah, and?"

"Well, what was the stuff he had to take care of?"

"How the hell should I know?"

"_You_ shouldn't. But I wanna bet John does…"

* * *

"This is Thunderbird 5 to Thunderbird 1. Scott, Alan – what's up?" John said, as soon as he saw the faces of both his older and younger brother on screen.

"John – we wanna ask you a question," Alan answered truthfully.

"Sure, go ahead," John replied, not sure what to expect.

"What was it with dad, just a couple of minutes ago, when he said he had _some other things_ to take care of?"

"Oh, that," John sighed. "I'm not sure whether I am the right person to tell you this, or not – maybe you should ask dad yourselves…"

"We will. After we've talked to you. And after we've blown up that mountain."

"Alright, fasten your seatbelts – Brains' sister used to work there."

"_Sister?_" Both Tracy relatives seated in Thunderbird 1 said in unison.

John laughed. "Actually, I was surprised about that one too. It's possible though, when does he ever mentions something about his family?"

Scott shrugged. "Never, I guess. We never asked him about it either, though. But what about Fermat?" The pilot of Thunderbird 1 looked at the youngest Tracy-sibling. "Has he ever mentioned something about _any_ relatives at all, I mean, besides his father?"

Alan shook his head. "Never. But I've gotta admit I've never asked him about it either. I just assumed he didn't have any other family besides Brains."

"I think it's safe to say we all did," John said. "But – I know dad ordered you to blow up that mountain and though I'm curious to find out what's inside, I trust dad when it comes to things like these. I'm sure that whatever Brains has told dad about that mountain convinced him to make the decision. And believe when I say it must be pretty awful, 'cause otherwise dad would've thought about it a little longer."

For a moment, there was an awful silence, until Alan tried to cheer his brothers up.

"Oh, but I'm sure it can't be much worse than Scott's self-made macaroni."

John had to laugh, but Scott was not pleased. "My macaroni? What has that got to do with it? And _what _was wrong with my macaroni? Nothing! Nothing was wrong with it! Everybody liked my macaroni!"

"Correction, Scott," John interrupted. "Everybody was _pretending_ to like it."

"Oh well," Scott admitted. "Okay, so I'm not the world's best macaroni-chef. Maybe I should try spaghetti next time..." He laughed when both blonde brothers shouted in unison: "NO!"

"Okay, okay, geez – relax guys! By the way, John – what's the ETA of that storm?"

"Twenty-nine minutes."

"FAB, John. Oh, and thanks for... updating us on the situation."

"Any time, Scott. Thunderbird 5 out."

* * *

"So..." Colonel O'Neill started. "Do I... _have_ to wear this?" He held the – _thing_ – that Carter had bought in front of him.

"It's called a raincoat, sir," Sam said, with a big smile on her face. "And besides, I had to buy food as well, so I had to save some on the clothes. Be thankful though, I could've also bought you a pink leather jacket."

"Watch it, Captain."

"I think you should be grateful for at least _having_ a raincoat," Daniel said, while looking at the clouds above. "Some of us only have denim jackets and I'm sure you are well-aware of the fact that denim jackets are not as effective as raincoats when it comes to rain."

Sam nodded, as she looked at the clouds above. "We should get a shelter, I'm afraid that it'll start to rain... very soon."

"But it makes me look like some old pervert!" Jack complained as they made their way to a place they could avoid the rain.

"Oh," Daniel commented, as he looked at his own jacket. "I'd rather be dry than wet, no matter what I wear. But you know, just a thought."

Sam sighed. "Come on guys, Stop arguing." She looked across the street. "You know, let's go to that bar over there."

"Good idea," Jack said. "I could sure as hell use a drink right now."

* * *

"The mountain has collapsed. I repeat, the mountain has collapsed."

"FAB, Thunderbi-" Jeff answered, but was cut off by the sound of an incoming message – from Thunderbird 5. "Just one second, boys," he said to his sons in Thunderbird 1 as he switched channels to the massive communications satellite. "John, what's up?"

"Boys?" Jeff said, once again switching channels.

"Come in, dad. What's the matter?" Alan asked, curious to find out what exactly John had told their father.

"Scott – Alan. You've got to abort the mission. We've got an emergency situation in Belgium, the city of Antwerp to be precise. There was a complete electricity meltdown at the local nuclear power plant, shutting all systems down, including life support. Six people are still trapped inside a basement, and they can't get out because the door's jammed. We need to get them out of there before they run out of air."

"FAB, dad."

"What's your ETA?"

"Eighteen minutes." Alan replied.

"Okay, I want you and Scott to set up Mobile Control, and wait for Gordon and Virgil. They're already on the move and they got the Mole and Thunderizer with them. And boys?"

"Yeah?"

"Please, put on your uniforms."

"FAB, dad," Alan replied with a smile, though he thought it was a shame they didn't get the chance to interrogate their father about Brains – or Brains' so-called _sister_. "Thunderbird 1 out."

* * *

Meanwhile, the three remaining members of SG-1 were enjoying their well-earned rest. Well, enjoying was maybe a bit overrated, but they were glad they could sit down anyway.

Jack sighed as he stared at his empty glass. A minute before, it had still been filled with beer. Mind you, it was bad beer, and not very much either ('_Gotta spare money on something'_, Carter had said), but it was beer nonetheless.

However, Jack's deep thoughts were interrupted as he saw a woman, possibly in her mid-thirties, soaking wet and out of breath, entering the bar.

"Hi Eve," the bartender said, "Sure looks like you're in a hurry."

"Not exactly," she managed to say in-between two deep breaths, "It's just- it's... the Thunderbirds – they're... on TV!"

Although the words meant nothing to the three SGC employees sitting at the bar; Sam, Jack and Daniel could notice that obviously, whatever those Thunderbirds were, they meant a lot to the inhabitants of this town.

"Come on, Lyle!" said an old man sitting next to Daniel, "Put that damn TV on. I wanna see what they're up to!"

"Alright, alright," Lyle, the bartender, returned, "Just one second."

Though the three SGC-members still had no idea who or what the Thunderbirds were, they were just as quiet as the rest of the people in the building, as the bartender turned on the TV. He raised the volume, so everyone could hear it.

"I wonder what this is all about..." Jack whispered, more to himself than to anyone else, but the man next to Daniel heard it anyway, and let out a loud "Sssshhh!", before fixing his eyes on the screen once again.

"...live at the scene." The newsreader said. "Ellen?"

A blonde woman appeared on screen, looking a bit like she'd just stepped out of bed, but all viewers soon realized that it was the heavy Belgium wind that caused Ellen's hair to be a total mess.

"Hi Chuck," the woman, or Ellen, said with a slight European accent, "As you can see behind me, the local firefighters and some volunteers are trying to get the six people, who are still trapped in the basement, out of the building, but so far they didn't have any luck. The help of International Rescue is obviously needed, and a distress call went out about twenty minutes ago. They should arrive on scene any moment now."

It remained silent for a few seconds, but then the blonde-haired reporter nearly yelled in her microphone, "And there they are!"

The camera turned around to view a large silver craft, closing in on the news crew's position extremely fast. In the far distance, there could be seen another craft. The closer it came, the better it could be seen that although this craft was not as fast as the previous, it's size was _way_ bigger than the rocket. The massive green carrier, number 2, descended easily nearby the nuclear power plant, though instead of _just_ descending it released a big pod first.

"Oh my..." Daniel muttered.

Jack looked at him. "God?"

* * *

"This is Mobile Control to the Mole. Come in, Gordon."

"Hey there, Mobile Control. I have visual range of the blasts doors of the basement, although it's pitch black in here. We're definitely gonna need the Thunderizer if we wanna get those people out of here in one piece... and better send it fast, 'cause I can't tell how much longer those people can last in there."

"FAB, Gordon. Sending Thunderizer now." Scott turned to face Alan. "Alan, you think you're up to it?"

"Always!" Alan replied with a big smile. "Tell Gordon I'm coming in!"

* * *

Meanwhile, in a random bar in Colorado Springs, Sam had turned to talk to someone about the magnificent machines the tv currently viewed.

"So... what are those things?"

The man in question raised an eyebrow. "What, have you been on another planet the last decade? They're the _Thunderbirds_ of course!"

The captain sighed. "Sure, I know that, but-"

"Well, what do you want then?"

"Why are they so important to you?"

"Aren't they to you then? I mean, they saved this town – you remember that bald guy?"

Sam nodded, though she had absolutely no idea what the guy was talking about.

"Well, he and his men hijacked that Fireflash, – I mean, how original can you be – descended at the local military complex, hijacked yet another craft, this time that new type of military craft, Red Arrow. Anyway, he was planning to destroy city hall, and all kinds of other important buildings in Colorado Springs with the weapons aboard that plane. If it wasn't for the Thunderbirds we'd all be a pile of ash by now."

"So, they're like the good guys then?"

"Sure they are!" the man replied before fixing his eyes on the tv-screen once again.

After the brief explanation of what exactly those Thunderbirds had done for this town, Sam tapped Jack's shoulder, but she didn't get a response from him, so she decided to wait until the newsflash was finished.

* * *

As Alan directed the Thunderizer on the doors that lead to the basement, in which the six people were still trapped, he remembered his first time on the Thunderizer.

The Hood had infiltrated Tracy Island, and that guy and his two companions were send after him, Fermat and Tin-Tin. Alan grinned as he locked onto the door. "Time to Thunderize!"

Meanwhile, at Mobile Control, Scott was waiting impatiently for his little brother to respond. "Everything okay down there?"

"Yeah, yeah. Don't rush it, Scotty-boy. That's the third time you ask me if 'everything's okay down here', and yes – it still is," Alan replied. "By the way, everyone's settled, we're heading towards Mobile Control. ETA 2 minutes."

"FAB, Alan," Scott said back, and went over to the local fire chief.

"Ah, International Rescue, is there anything else that we can do?"

"Yeah, actually, there is. Please get some of the paramedics ready. We have successfully managed to get the six people out, but I'm afraid they need some medical attention before they can be transported somewhere safe."

"Of course. And by the way..."

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

Scott smiled. "You're welcome."

* * *

A loud applause sounded all over the bar in Colorado Springs, as they all saw the six people stepping out of the odd-looking vehicle; all safe and sound.

Jack couldn't help it but smile as well, before he turned to his 2IC. "Well Captain, I think we've found the computers you need."

Sam gasped. "_What_? The computers of the Thunderbirds? But Sir, how were you planning to do that? To even contact them? To..."

The team leader of SG-1 just grinned. "Oh, I think I have an idea..."


	4. Part IV

**Lightning **

_Part IV_

The sky was black and filled with stars. It was the middle of the night, at a time most people would've enjoyed their well-earned rest after a day of hard work, but that didn't include the people inhabiting Tracy Island.

"Welcome back, boys," Jeff said, as soon as he saw four of his sons enter the living room of the Tracy mansion, "Great job you've done. Take a shower and get some sleep, we'll debrief first thing tomorrow morning."

"Got it dad," Scott replied, as he and his three younger brothers made their way to their quarters.

* * *

"_What?_" Daniel exclaimed.

"Well, it was just an idea..."

Sam sighed. "With all due respect, colonel – I think it's a fine plan, but planting a bomb in the Colorado Springs library doesn't seem like the perfect way to contact the Thunderbirds to me. That way everyone will blame _us_ and they'll never believe us when we say, 'Well, we had to do it, because we are from the past, and we wanted to contact International, because they are the only ones who have the equipment to send us back home.' Or something like that."

"Okay, so... what's your great plan then, Carter?"

But even before SG-1's second in command had the chance to reply, a big brown man who had been standing just a few meters behind them, turned around and joined the conversation.

"Sorry, but did I just hear someone say Thunderbirds?"

"Yeah, and?" Jack said, not sure he liked the guy very much.

"If you'd like, I could bring you in touch with them."

For a moment no one dared to speak. Jack raised an eyebrow... was it just him or was this going way to easy?

"Just like that?" he asked suspiciously, "It doesn't bother you that they're an secretive operation?"

"Oh, but I know someone who knows them very well, and I'm sure they don't mind at all."

Jack tried to smile, but did not succeed entirely. "Just one moment, we'll have to discuss that. Sam, Daniel?" He called his team members with him, and as they walked away from the strange man, he continued. "Well, what do you guys think about it?"

"Eh, Jack... I don't really like this at all. At first sight, I'd say this guy works for someone we _don't_ want to get involved with."

Jack nodded, "I agree. However..."

"It's our best shot," Carter finished Jack's phrase, "And I don't think we have any other options left. I don't like it either, but it's better than, well, planting a bomb in the local library."

"Okay then," Jack turned around to face the big man, "We agree."

* * *

"...and after that, I called some paramedics to take care of those people. They assured us that there were no serious injuries, just a few people with minor respiratory problems. So, we wrapped everything up, and returned home." Scott finished his debriefing.

Jeff nodded. "Okay boys, thanks a lot..."

"Dad," Alan suddenly interjected, "There's just one question we have..."

"Or actually some questions," Scott added, "Who's Brains' sister? And what about those three people we were sent out to follow?"

"What?" Virgil exclaimed, since he and Gordon hadn't heard the story yet, "Brains' sister? Where were we when this all happened?"

Gordon looked at his elder brother. "Yeah, I never knew Brains even had any relatives left!"

Jeff sighed, and looked at his second eldest son, who had been listening to every single word said in his father's office via the video link with Thunderbird 5. John nodded, to show that he thought it was okay to tell his four brothers the whole truth. Jeff, glad to have John's support, sighed and began the story. "Alright... well, about those three people – they're no longer in John's view, so we've officially lost them. However, I've informed every agent of International Rescue in Colorado to look out for them..."

"That's gonna be hard if no one knows what they look like." Jeff heard one of his sons whisper, but chose to ignore it.

"...so the moment someone sees them, we'll be informed. Until then, there's not much we can do either. In the mean time, life goes on, even here on Tracy Island. I've got that business trip to New York coming up, and that means Scott's in charge while I'm away. Got that?" As he saw four of his sons nod, he continued. "I'll leave at 0200hrs this afternoon, and don't forget John's due to come back tomorrow, boys. It's Virgil's turn to replace him, and I want Gordon to pilot 3. And last but not least, I don't want to see the island become the same mess it was the last time I went on a business trip. Understood?"

His four sons all nodded again, but somehow that didn't assure Jeff. "Good..."

"Ah, but dad-", Alan interrupted his father again, "You haven't told us about Brains' sister yet..."

"I'm not sure if..."

"You're the right person to tell us about Brains' sister," Scott finished his father's phrase, "We know. But we're not gonna give up until you tell us the story!"

Jeff smiled, he knew Scott was telling the truth. "Alright then, I'll tell. Even I didn't know this one, although I double checked Brains' background the way I do on every new International Rescue agent. However, I never discovered any brothers or sisters, so I just assumed he had none," Jeff sighed, "Yeah, I was wrong. It seemed that Brains' parents got divorced when he was still very young. He went to live with his mother, and never saw his father again. His mother married again to another man, but died giving birth to her second child. As you can guess, it was a girl. Janet. His stepfather married _again,_ but he and his new wife died when a hurricane struck their home.

Brains and his half-sister survived, but got separated when Brains was adopted by a Cambridge University professor, while Janet got placed with the family of a retired Air Force general in Colorado Springs. With Brains in England and his sister in Colorado Springs, you can imagine that their close friendship started to fade away. Things got worse when Janet decided to join the military after she had finished med school. Of course they e-mailed and called each other once in a while, but I'm sure you see what I'm getting at.

Anyway, one day Brains got a message that Janet had died. On duty. He desperately wanted to find out _how,_ but no one wanted, or dared, to explain – so Brains decided to call in the help of a good friend, and skilled hacker, to find out what exactly caused his sister's sudden death. He soon found out that not only the files about the base Janet was working were top secret, and very difficult to decrypt, but also that the death rate at that base was higher than any of the other military facilities in the entire country! Brains got even more anxious to find out what the hell was going on in the Colorado mountain. But when he found out, he almost wished he never started looking in the first place. He never found out much, except for a few codenames: 'Project Bluebook', 'Deep Space Radar Telemetry'..."

"From _underneath_ a mountain?" Virgil said, but Jeff ignored it again.

"... 'Stargate Command', and 'Area 51'."

"_Area 51_?" Gordon exclaimed, "As in Independence Day _Area 51_?"

But instead of his father answering, it was his brother up in TB5 who gave the reply. "Yeah, _that_ Area 51, Gordon. You'd better start believing it, your favorite movie is becoming so realistic, it's kinda scary."

Alan eyes grew wide, as he suddenly realized what that meant. "You mean... we got three aliens on the loose?"

Jeff nodded, "If not more..."

* * *

He didn't like this. He didn't like this at all, Jack thought. Since they'd agreed with the big brown man to meet another man – one who claimed to know the members of International Rescue – they had followed him into a big black limousine and they drove away to an unknown place. When they arrived at a spooky looking villa just outside of Colorado Springs, the three members of SG-1 had been escorted inside and brought to – what looked like – the 'living room', but it was obvious that it's better years were past. And now they were sitting on a rotten couch, and still Jack didn't like this at all. "Am I the only one who's got a _bad_ feeling about thi-"

He never got to finish his phrase, because at that moment, a small bald man wearing a red – kimono? – entered the room. A shiver crossed Jack's spine, besides that he didn't like the situation they were in, he didn't like that man at all either.

"Good afternoon, lady and gentlemen," the man said with an English accent, "I heard from Mullion that you were interested in meeting the Thunderbirds?"

"Well, yeah, that _was_ our intention," Jack started, "But I guess it depends on what you got to offer us, and what we need to do for it."

The bald man laughed. "Now, now, who says you need to do something in order to get in contact with International Rescue?"

Jack looked at his fellow team members, who were clearly as clueless as Jack was at that moment. What idiot wanted to help someone without even asking something in return? Unless that was the way they did it nowadays…

"However, come to think of it, there's one little thing that you three could do for me…"

Jack sighed, "And what may that be?"

"Now, now, don't rush it! I'm sure you'll find out in time. Until then, I suggest you're just going to have to trust me."

"Oh, but that's maybe a tiny problem," Jack replied sarcastically, "I don't know if we trust you."

"Oh, I can assure you that I am very reliable when it comes to secrets, Mr.-"

"Jack. And I'm sure that we _can_ trust you, I just didn't say we did. Got it?"

"Now, now, what a tone, Mr. Jack. But I think I know a way I can make you trust me…"

"Oh yeah? How's that?"

But what happened next, no one from his team could've expected… the bald man's eyes changed and suddenly the three members of SG-1 were incapable of moving in any way. The last thing that rushed through Jack's head was '_Shit, a Goa'uld…_' before someone sedated him.


	5. Part V

**Lightning**

_Part V_

Two days passed by relatively easy, certainly on Tracy Island. Jeff was gone, John was back, and Virgil was up in Thunderbird Five, monitoring everything that went on down on Earth, although that wasn't much so far.

Gordon was watching Independence Day over and over again, his brothers suspected that he still couldn't believe that his favorite movie was becoming reality. Alan was on the contrary very excited, as if he couldn't wait to meet some aliens, and – if necessary – kick some major alien ass. John was interested to meet some aliens too, but his interests were purely scientific. And maybe a bit human curiosity. Scott seemed as if he didn't care at all that there were aliens on Earth, but his brothers knew better than that.

Since Jeff had told them the story of Brains and his sister, the Tracy brothers were trying to avoid Brains as much as they could, but Brains wasn't exactly forthcoming with information too. Fermat was still at Wharton Academy, as Alan was now being home educated. More or less.

Two days had passed by without any mission, and Alan knew his dad expected him to be studying his history and math. But with all this excitement – how the hell was he supposed to be studying when _aliens_ were walking on Earth? Right now, this very moment!

* * *

Jack was not pleased. Oh no, Jack was not pleased at all. This trip to the future was becoming a hell, literally. He now knew that agreeing with that big brown man was the biggest mistake he'd ever made in his miserable life. After they'd been sedated, things went downhill.

When he had woken up, unfortunately not in his bed, but in a dark room god knows where, he had not only a major headache, but also discovered that one of his team members was missing.

He and Daniel had been discussing their situation for what seemed like hours. They figured that the guy hadn't been a Goa'uld, since his eyes hadn't lit up but changed in color – and besides, Goa'uld couldn't paralyze you by just looking in your eyes. But he wasn't entirely human either, that much was for sure. Question was, where was Carter, and what were they planning to do with them?

Their questions were soon answered, when a door had opened and the big brown man had entered and signaled that they should follow him. They had been led into another room, where they'd met the bald man again. Jack had felt the urge to strangle him or at least do something that would really hurt, but then remembered that he didn't want to be paralyzed again, so Jack decided to keep quiet.

Of course, the first question the bald man had asked, was the one Jack had expected.

"So, Mr. Jack – or whatever your real name is – where are you from, and what were you and your companions planning to do with all those weapons?"

Jack had reached automatically to the place his zat gun should've been, but had found none.

"No, Mr. Jack. I can assure you that your weapons are some place _safe_. Now, if you would be so kind to explain to me who you are and where you come from, because your weapons are unlike any I've ever seen before…"

"You know what, go to hell," Jack had replied.

A somewhat artificial smile had appeared on the bald man's face. "I think you don't realize the situation you're in, Mr. Jack," he'd said as he turned on a TV.

"_You son of a-_" Jack had said as soon as he saw that the TV viewed Carter tied up against a chair.

"Yes, Mr. Jack. Now, if you want your girlfriend back in one piece, I suggest you do as I say. When I first viewed your magnificent weapons, I was under the impression you are in the army?" As none of the two SGC-members replied, the bald man had continued, "Good, that was exactly what I was expecting…"

After that, the bald man had explained his 'ingenious plan'. Jack and Daniel had to plant a massive amount of C-4 under a building he called 'The World Nation Tower', where at that moment the International Convention of Aerospace Technology Developers was being held. It was a mystery why the bald man wanted to blow up some Aerospace Technology Developers, but as the man had said; 'One question, and your friend is dead. If the World Nation Tower isn't a pile of dust by 0500hrs this afternoon, your friend is dead. If you try to contact anyone, especially International Rescue, your friend is dead. If you don't obey, your friend is dead.'

* * *

And now, Jack and Daniel were on their way to the World Nation Tower. In a cab.

Poor cabdriver, Jack thought, if he only knew what his passengers were carrying…

"2AM, Jack," Daniel said as they got out of the cab, "What's your great plan?"

Jack rubbed his temples, his headache was starting to return, and sighed. "I think it's best to evacuate the entire building…"

Daniel looked up at the 100-storey building. "You want to evacuate _that_?"

"What's your great plan then?"

"I didn't say it wasn't a good plan, it's just-"

"-gonna be a hell to evacuate," Jack finished Daniel's phrase, "I know."

"How are you gonna – what?" Daniel asked, but was cut off by Jack, signaling that Daniel should be quiet.

"Look-" Jack pointed towards a news crew, standing not too far from their position, "Just be quiet for a minute, I wanna know what they're saying!"

"…and at this moment the 4th International Convention of Aerospace Technology Developers is being held here, in the World Nation Tower. Among the 126 participants are Hiro Mizayaki from Sato Corporation, Jean Trèsangle from Dee Année and of course Jeff Tracy from Tracy Enterprises…"

That name caught Jack's attention. _Jeff Tracy?_

Daniel noticed Jack's expression of familiarity, "Jack? You know one of those guys?"

"I… think so."

* * *

'_They're closing in on our position!'_

'_Retreat! Retreat!'_

_Jack looked around him, searching for help. He was unable to move his leg, and couldn't get up without any assistance…_

'_Someone! Over here!' he yelled, 'I can't… move…' His words started to fade away, as was his vision, Jack noticed. Everything was kinda becoming a blur. No, this definitely wasn't good. Most of his comrades would've reached command control by now, he figured… And good ol' Jack just sits here, waiting for the enemy…_

_However, Jack looked up, as struck by lightning, when he heard someone call, 'Hello? Anyone there?'_

'_Yeah! Over… here…'_

_He heard some debris fall, and saw someone making his way through the collapsed building… towards him! Jack prayed it wasn't an Iraqi member of the resistance, 'cause otherwise he wouldn't make it out here anyway. However, he was relieved to hear (since his vision wasn't that precise anymore, and all he saw was a tall, green blur) an American voice say, 'Can you walk?'_

'_If you help me get up, yeah, I think so.'_

_The American put his arms around Jack's shoulder, giving Jack the opportunity to stand up. 'Aw, damn!' Jack let out, when he accidentally put some weight on his right leg._

'_Come on, lean on me. The Iraqi's will be here soon… and I trust you to prefer the USS Horizon above an Iraqi prison?' The American stated._

'_Damn right I do,' Jack said as the two men stumbled through the deserted, and destroyed town._

'_So, how long you've been here?' The American said, trying to make Jack focus his attention on something other than his leg._

'_Three… months,' Jack managed to say in-between to steps, 'I was getting ready to head back next week. Guess that won't be happening any time soon, huh?'_

'_Not if it's up to me,' the American replied._

_This determination made Jack even wonder more who the guy actually was. He had some guts, even Jack had to admit that. Besides the fact that he was the only one who had replied to his calls for help, the guy refused to believe that they wouldn't make it to command control, despite their situation. But, just as he was about to ask who the guy was, the world began to spin around him and instead of seeing a blur, everything went black._

_The next thing Jack saw, when he opened his eyes, was white. So white… was he in heaven? Yeah, that was possible… they probably never made it to command control._

_However, his assumptions were proved faulty when he heard someone say, 'Well, Major O'Neill, how are you doing today?', nope – definitely not an angel, but a doctor._

_As he turned his head around, he saw someone standing next to – wait a minute, he could see clearly again!_

'_A hell of a lot better than… when did I get here?' Jack asked, suddenly realizing that he must've been there longer than just a couple of hours, 'And where exactly is here?'_

_The doctor had to laugh, 'Well, Major, I am pleased to inform you that you are in the infirmary of the USS Horizon. You were brought here four days ago, with a multiple fractured leg and severe dehydration.'_

'_And what about that guy that brought me here?'_

'_Ah, you mean Captain Tracy? Oh, nice fellow – I believe he went home two days ago. He too came in with severe dehydration, plus the fact that he was completely exhausted.'_

'_I can believe that,' Jack murmured, realizing that the guy must've been dead tired after dragging an unconscious superior to command control. 'And what's gonna happen to me now?'_

'_Well, you'll be pleased to hear that General O'Connor has authorized your transport back to the States. You'll be transported to the Roosevelt Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs, next thing tomorrow morning.'_

_After that, Jack had spent two more weeks in the Roosevelt Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs, before he was allowed to leave… in a wheelchair. He didn't particularly look forward to spending eight whole weeks on wheels, but it was way better than being in a hospital; the place of all places he despised – especially the syringes._

_But, after six weeks, Jack had about seen it all. His car wasn't equipped for transport of disabled persons, and neither was the car of his wife. With nowhere to go, Jack nearly sunk into a deep depression. The only thing that made his days worth to live in those eight weeks, was his wife, Sarah. She noticed the sad mood of her husband, and started searching for a way to cheer Jack up again. And boy, did she find something…_

_On the sixth day of the seventh week in a wheelchair, Jack started his day as he did every day. With the help of his wife, he got out of bed. With the help of his wife, he got dressed. With the help of his wife, he stumbled downstairs and sat down for breakfast. At least eating his fruit loops was something he could do on his own. _

_After he'd finished his breakfast, Jack went, with the help of his wife, to the living room, sat down on the couch, and wondered which one of the five hundred crosswords he would solve today. However, his mood did not improve when he read the first word he had to solve._

'_Land in the Middle-East, four letters,' Jack read out aloud, 'Yeah, rub it in, won't you,' he continued to no one in particular. Usually, Sarah would reply with something along the lines of, 'Come on, Jack, it's a goddamn crossword. They can't help it!', but instead, it was a familiar male voice that replied. 'And I thought I was doing you a favor by getting you out of that hell.'_

_That voice… where had he heard it before?_

_-'I was getting ready to head back next week. Guess that won't be happening any time soon, huh?'_

_-'Not if it's up to me.'_

_Jack looked up… and saw the face he first saw so many weeks ago… the face of his savior._

'_Captain Tracy?'_

_The American, or rather Captain Tracy, smiled, 'Actually, it's Major Tracy now. Nice to finally talk to you, Major O'Neill.'_

_Jack smiled back, 'Same here.'_

_After the introduction, Jack and Major Tracy, or Jeff – as Jack had found out, talked for what seemed like hours. Jeff told Jack that after he'd come back from Iraq, he was promoted to Major, and got a job offered at Deep Space Radar Telemetry, as Jack soon found out that Jeff was quite the genius when it came to stuff involving planes, rockets and outer space. Jeff, on the other hand, discovered that Jack was a man of action, not a person who could sit quietly in a wheelchair, and that Jack was short for Jonathan-_

'_You're actually Jonathan O'Neill? THE Jonathan O'Neill? As in Jonathan O'Neill, the youngest Air Force pilot ever to earn a Medal of Honor?'_

'_Eh, I guess so-'_

_After a while, it became clear that both men had attended the same Military Academy, at which Jack had become some sort of local legend._

_Sarah watched the interaction between the two Air Force Majors with great pleasure, as they both seemed to enjoy their conversation very much. Anyway, it was nearly six o'clock when Jeff decided to call it a night._

'_Well Jack, it's been really nice talking to you… but I really think I should get going. My girl's waiting at home, and I don't want to be late for dinner.'_

'_Yeah, same here. Ya know, we should keep in touch. I really enjoyed talking to you.'_

'_Well, once your leg is healed, maybe we could do some stuff together. You know, stuff women don't like.'_

'_Yeah, we should do that…'_

_As Jeff drove off, Jack felt that he'd made a friend for life._

_Only to realize many years later, that maybe he'd felt wrong. After the conversation they'd had back then, they never spoke again. The only thing Jack ever heard from Jeff, was via the television – a CNN newsreader had declared that 'Jeff Tracy had successfully set foot on the moon'._

* * *

"Jack? Jack", Daniel said, trying to get through to his team member. It seemed like one of the names the reporter had mentioned, caused Jack to relive one of his (good? bad?) memories.

Finally, Jack snapped out of it. "Huh? What?"

"So, assuming you know one of these guys, what's your plan of action now?"

"Eh," Jack said, trying to come up with a good plan, "I think I have an idea, but I'm not sure whether or not it'll work…"

"Anything, Jack. I'm willing to work out every plan, as long as we can get Sam back."


	6. Part VI

**Lightning**

_Part VI_

It was dark. And it smelled... like rotten eggs. Sam didn't know where she was, except that she wasn't some place familiar. What was the last thing she remembered? Oh yeah, that bald guy... yes, one of his minions had sedated her, and after that they'd probably dragged her to this 'room' and tied her arms and legs against a chair. Luckily, they hadn't blindfolded her – not that it was necessary, because the room was so damn dark she couldn't tell which side the door was on anyway.

No, this definitely didn't look good. How the hell was she supposed to get out of there? And where were Jack and Daniel? And were her captors still around? She listened carefully, but heard nothing. So, did that mean they were gone? If yes, why?

But before Sam could think of even more questions, she heard footsteps approaching and silently cursed... that would probably that bald guy or one of his companions. But, since she realized that it was her best – and quite possible only – shot, she started shouting.

"Hey, hello! Anyone there? Please, help me!"

The footsteps stopped in front of the door, and she heard someone ordering to – knock down the door?

BAM.

Okay, that was the door. Sam was quite relieved to see a man and woman standing in the doorway, instead of the bald guy or one of his companions. As soon as they saw her, they rushed over to Sam's side and untied her.

"Boy, am I glad to see you," she started, "I almost started thinking I'd never get out of here."

The woman laughed, and it was only now that Sam noticed that she was completely dressed in _pink_. "Don't worry," the woman said with an English accent, "It's our pleasure. Parker (and Sam realized that Parker was probably the name of the man accompanying the woman) – please bring the car around, while I escort Miss..."

"Eh, Carter."

"-while I escort Miss Carter to the exit."

"Of course, m'lady. Straight away," Parker, obviously her servant, replied.

"Well, let me introduce myself," the woman in pink said, "My name is Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward. And, if I may ask, Miss Carter, how exactly did a nice young lady like yourself end up in an awful place like this?"

"Well, eh, that's actually a long story... wow," Sam exclaimed as soon as she stepped outside and first laid her eyes on a very pink Rolls Royce, "Is _that_ your car?"

"Why, of course it is! Don't you like it?"

"Oh, eh, well," Sam stuttered, "Yeah, I think so, except that... it's, it's so..."

"Pink?" the woman, or rather Lady Penelope answered, "Don't worry, I get to hear that a lot. Please enter."

Sam stepped into the large pink vehicle, and was immediately struck by the luxury of the Royce. Lady Penelope saw Sam's expression and grinned, "Quite impressive, isn't it?"

All Sam could do was blink.

"Well then, Miss Carter, we'll drive you straight home, but in the mean time, I'd like you to answer some questions, if that's okay with you."

"Eh, sure," Sam started, but then realized that was probably the biggest mistake she'd made up until now, how was she going to explain where she lived?

"Well, darling – if you don't mind, we're going to need your address if we want to take you home," Lady Penelope said.

"Oh, yes, but, you see – that's kind of a problem. To be honest, I don't think I have one. Well, not anymore anyway," Sam tried to explain.

"What do you mean, you don't have one? Darling, where do you live then? Don't tell me your homeless!"

"Oh, no, it's not like that, you see, I used to live in Colorado Springs, and-" Sam stopped talking as she saw the blonde woman and her driver exchange looks, "-somehow I got the feeling you already knew that."

"Not exactly," Lady Penelope replied, "I'm sorry I have to ask you this, but are you in anyway involved with USAF-business?"

"Yeah, well, you could say that," Sam grinned, "I'm actually an Air Force captain, and-"

But Sam never got to finish her phrase. For a moment, Lady Penelope's eyes grew wide, and she quickly said, "Come on Parker, please call Jeff for me. Audio only."

As Sam wondered who 'Jeff' was and why she had to call him, just because Sam had said she was an Air Force Captain, Parker handed Lady Penelope a pink telephone.

"Jeff? Hi, it's Penny. Look, I think I'm on to something here..."

* * *

Quietly, Jeff took a sip from his coffee. The convention had gone well so far, but still, Jeff couldn't help but feel a little distracted knowing that they quite probably had three aliens – if not more – on the loose, somewhere in the United States. It didn't help much either that in these times, he had to leave his sons behind on the Island.

At least John is home, Jeff thought, I'm hoping he can keep Alan and Gordon from making the island the same mess it was the last time I went on a business trip. However, his deep thoughts were interrupted by his New York secretary, knocking on the door of his office.

"Jeff" she asked, "I got a call from downstairs, seems like there are some people who desperately want to talk to you."

Jeff sighed. "Not some reporters, are they?"

"They _claim_ to be some old friends of yours, eh, I think I have their names somewhere," she said, searching for the right piece of paper, "Ah yes, here... Daniel Jackson and Jack O'Neill. Do any of these two names seem familiar to you?"

Jeff raised an eyebrow. "Well, I've never heard of the first, but... I went to Jack's funeral about ten years ago."

"His _funeral_? You sure this is the same guy?"

"I only know _one_ Jack O'Neill, so I'm pretty sure I went to _his_ funeral, Joyce."

"Okay then, Jeff, you don't hear me complain! I'm just saying that it's a little weird for a dead man to be walking in this building, right now, this moment."

Jeff sighed, "That was exactly what I was thinking…"

* * *

"Oh, come on," Jack moaned, "Let us in! We're _friends_ of Mr. Tracy! I'm sure that if we _just_…"

"Yeah, yeah," the guard replied, "You lot all say the same. But you ain't kiddin' me no more, no sir. Just go and find some other guard you can fool."

Jack sighed, "Oh, come-"

The colonel was just about to complain again, when the guard's walkie-talkie started beeping.

"_Frost?"_

"Yeah, this is Frost. Come in, over."

"_Hey, Frost, it's Sandman here. Those two weirdo's still with you?"_

"Yeah, unfortunately."

"_Well, they ain't no weirdo's anymore. Some big poof invited them in."_

"No kiddin'!"

"_No, really. Just escort 'em to the shafts, and send 'em up to level 73."_

"Okay, roger that. Level 73."

"_Level 73. See ya!"_

"See ya, Sandman. Over and out," the guard put his walkie-talkie back in his pocket, and turned around to face the two remaining SG-1 members, "Well, looks like you guys are very lucky. Follow me."

* * *

"Wow, how fancy," Jack said, studying the interior of the elevator, "They sure got money up there."

Daniel just shrugged, "Well Jack, looking at the fact that these guys are the executive directors of the world's largest aerospace companies, according to that reporter anyway, I think they can afford something… like this."

"I guess you're right…" Jack started, but when the elevator doors opened, he added, "Well, looks like we made it."

Jack and Daniel left the elevator and looked around, a bit bewildered, until they were approached by – what appeared to be – a secretary.

"You must be Mr. O'Neill and Mr. Jackson?"

"Ye-"

"Good, now follow me. Take a seat there," she pointed at a comfy couch, "And wait until Mr. Tracy has time to meet you, which I doubt will be anytime soon. _And_," she added in a somewhat more demanding tone, "You'd better be who you're claiming to be, otherwise I doubt you will leave this building in one piece. Have a nice day."

With that she left, leaving a stunned Jack and a somewhat startled Daniel behind.

"Pff, she's quite the woman, isn't she?" Daniel stated, sitting down on the couch.

"Damn right she is," Jack joined Daniel on the sofa, "You're just forgetting one thing."

"What's that?"

"We don't have the luxury of time."

"Why not?"

"Bald guy. Bomb. Building. Carter. Boom. Remember?"

"Oh yeah. Now I do."

* * *

"But we have to speak to him _now_!" Jack exclaimed, after fifteen minutes still desperately trying to convince the woman to let them have a meeting with Jack's former friend and colleague, "It's a matter of life and death!"

The woman sighed, "Very well then, I'll try to contact him. But don't get you hopes up to high, that damn bastard of a Trèsangle isn't giving in to anything. He's been keeping Mr. Tracy busy twenty-four hours a day, the last eighty-four hours. Oh, if I ever get my hands on him…"

"Eh, Mr. Tracy? We – speak – to – him?"

"Oh, yes, of course, one minute," the woman said, "Let's see…"

She grabbed a phone, and dialed – what had to be – Jeff Tracy's number. "Yes, Mr. Tracy, it's Joyce here. Eh, I have to people here who desperately want to talk to you. Yes, they insist. A matter of life and death, I quote. No, they won't go away. Yes, I've tried. No, they won't. Yes, I will. Of course, Mr. Tracy. See you soon."

"Well, I hope you're satisfied now," she said as she hung up the phone, "He was in the middle of a very important meeting, and didn't like to be interrupted."

"But he's coming."

"Yes, he's coming. Whether or not you should be pleased with that, I do not know."

Daniel looked at Jack, who just shrugged. "So, how long's Jeff been running… _Tracy Enterprises_?"

The secretary looked up at Jack, "For someone who claims to know _Mr. Tracy_, you don't seem to be that well-informed about Mr. Tracy's business."

"I haven't seen him in a long while," came Jack's casual reply.

"Very well then," Joyce said, "Tracy Enterprises started in 2009, and in eleven years it has expanded at the rate, it now is the number one aerospace corporation in the world, leaving it's competition far behind."

Jack blew a whistle, "That's not too bad."

"No, it isn't, if I do say so myself," the secretary replied, "Ah, there he is."

Jack and Daniel turned around, to face the billionaire. Both Jeff and Jack seemed genuine surprised to see each other again.

"Jack?" was the first thing Jeff said, "That's not possible."

"Why not?" came the reply, "You haven't seen me for, what, twenty years?"

Jeff raised an eyebrow, "You're either a really good impostor, or…"

"Or what?"

"Jack…. If you're really Jack, that is," Jeff started, "I went to your funeral eleven years ago. Therefore, you _can't_ be Jack."

"You went to _what_? I was _what_?" Jack exclaimed, "I can't believe it!"

"Well, Jack," Daniel said, "Technically, it's possible. Remember, you guys thought I was dead, when in fact I was… some place else."

"Yeah, yeah," Jack bit back, "But that was something else."

"No, it wasn't!"

"Look, I hate to interrupt you gentlemen," Joyce, the secretary, said, "But Mr. Tracy still has some unfinished business to-"

"Leave it, Joyce," Jeff answered, "Tell Mr. Trèsangle and Mr. Mizayaki I enjoyed our conversations and I had some urgent matters to attend to, but that I'll invite them to the Island in the near future."

"Very well, Mr. Tracy."

"Okay, you two," Jeff said, turning to Jack and Daniel, "I do- now what?" he said, when he heard his cell phone go off, "Jeff Tracy speaking."

"_Jeff? Hi, it's Penny. Look, I think I'm on to something here..."_

"Okay, let's hear it."

"_Well, remember I went to check out – what we thought was – the latest hideout of the Hood?"_

"Yes, of course."

"_It wasn't as abandoned as we first thought it was."_

"How come?"

"_Parker and I found a young lady, tied up against a chair. Not all that odd for the Hood, to leave his victims behind, but we, eh, found out something else."_

"Yes?"

"_Seems like the woman has nowhere to live – not anymore, as she claims herself – and that she's from Colorado Springs."_

"Colorado Springs?" Jeff said in surprise, not liking the suggestions this statement raised – if the Hood had found at least _one_ person out of that mountain, who knows what else he found…

_What could possibly be more important than meeting an old friend you hadn't seen in twenty years? Granted, he was assumed dead, but that didn't mean anything, right?_ Jack thought, while waiting for Jeff to end his phone call. He didn't like waiting, and was starting to get curious to what the conversation with the person on the other end of the line was all about.

"Jeff Tracy speaking… Okay, let's hear it... Yes, of course… How come…? Yes…? Colorado Springs?"

This caused Jack to jump up in surprise. "Colorado Springs? What's up with Colorado Springs?"

"One minute, Jack," Jeff said, signaling he should be quiet, "Yeah, Penn- hold on." He turned around again, to face Jack. "Jack, don't you live in Colorado Springs?"

"Yeah, well, I used to," Jack said, but soon realized that it wasn't such a clever thing to say.

"And you, mister…"

"Eh, Jackson. Yeah, I also lived, eh, in Colorado Springs. Not anymore, anyway."

"Not anymore, huh," Jeff replied, knowing what this probably meant. If he did the math, the woman plus the two man standing in his office right now, were all from Colorado Springs… that made three. Three people from Colorado Springs, including an old friend, he hadn't seen in over twenty years and assumed dead.

_I guess this means that I've found the aliens_, Jeff thought, _only they're not as alien as we first thought they were._


	7. Part VII

**Lightning**

_Previous Chapter_

"Jeff Tracy speaking… Okay, let's hear it. Yes, of course. How come? Yes? Colorado Springs?"

This caused Jack to jump up in surprise. "Colorado Springs? What's up with Colorado Springs?"

"One minute, Jack," Jeff said, signaling he should be quiet, "Yeah, Penn- hold on." He turned around again, to face Jack. "Jack, don't you live in Colorado Springs?"

"Yeah, well, I used to," Jack said, but soon realized that it wasn't such a clever thing to say.

"And you, mister…"

"Eh, Jackson. Yeah, I also lived, eh, in Colorado Springs. Not anymore, anyway."

"Not anymore, huh," Jeff replied, knowing what this probably meant.

_Part VII_

"Yeah Penny, I'm back again. Listen, you still have that woman in your car?"

"_Why Jeff, of course I have. Where'd she suppose to go?"_

"Okay, if it's not too much of a problem, I'd like you to take her to JFK Airport. Right now, I have two men standing in my office, and if I had to take a guess, I'd say they work together."

"_Of course it's not a problem, Jeff. Anything for you."_

"Alright, thanks a lot, Penny. And, please, don't tell her anything. We'll think up something to fix this problem when they're reunited."

"_Alright, Jeff. See you soon."_

"Just one thing, Penny," Jeff said as he grabbed a notebook, "What's her name?"

"_Eh, I believe it was Carter. Captain Carter."_

"Okay, thanks a lot. Bye Penny." Jeff looked at Jack and Daniel, "I'm almost afraid to ask, but do you two know a certain woman by the name Carter? Eh, Captain Carter?"

"What?" Jack exclaimed, "The hell we do! Where is she? What did you do to her?"

"I'll take that as a yes," Jeff said, still a bit suspicious of the so-called 'Jack O'Neill', "One of my… employees found her in an abandoned house about two hundred miles north of New York. Yes, she's fine. Yes, you will meet her soon," Jeff continued, knowing what Jack and Daniel's next questions would be.

"That's all we wanted to know. Thank you, Mr. Tracy," Daniel replied, giving Jack a quick glance.

"Okay then, just one minute," Jeff said as he grabbed some stuff off his desk, "Where's my suitcase, Joyce?"

"In your car, Mr. Tracy," his secretary replied, "When you said you'd cancel your meetings with Mr. Mizayaki and Mr. Trèsangle, I took the liberty to arrange you a ride to the airport. Of course, with Mr. O'Neill and Mr. Jackson, if they'd please."

Jack looked at Daniel, and they both nodded. However, they didn't realize, that when Jeff said, "Alright then, gentlemen. Follow me"… they were forgetting something very important. It was about the size of a shoe box. It ticked. And they were running out of time…

* * *

"So, what's next?" Jack asked as soon as the had taken place in the large limousine.

"We're now heading to JFK airport," Jeff answered, "We will meet up with your friend there, and discuss what to do next."

"Suits me just fine," Jack answered, "What 'bout you, Daniel?"

"I'm not argue that. Nice limo you have by the way, Mr. Tracy."

"Thank you, Mr. Jackson. So, tell me… Jack, assuming that you're really Jack O'Neill?"

"Yes, I'm _really _the Jack O'Neill, as in Jonathan O'Neill, the youngest Air Force pilot ever to earn a Medal of Honor-" Jack started to repeat the same words Jeff had told him so many years ago.

"No, actually, if you're really THE Jonathan O'Neill, and you weren't buried eleven years ago, you should know that you're no longer the youngest Air Force pilot ever to earn a Medal of Honor." Jeff said suspiciously.

"Yeah, right. And who might that be?"

"My son."

"Oh."

"So, tell me, Mr. Jackson," Jeff continued, "What exactly do you do? Work together with Jack? No offense, but you don't exactly look like the kind of man who would voluntarily work with someone like Jack."

"None taken. Actually, I'm an archeologist, and – what?" Daniel said, as he saw the look Jack was giving him.

Jeff raised an eyebrow as he noticed the awkward situation the three men were in. "Is there something I should know, gentlemen?"

"Eh-"

"Still, one could question the reason for an archeologist to work together with an Air Force… major?"

Suddenly, Daniel realized why Jack had given him 'the look'.

"Actually, it's colonel now," Jack replied, "And we, eh, work together in, eh…"

"A highly classified mountain in Colorado Springs?"

"How the hell did _you _know that?"

"Let's just say I have my resources," Jeff casually replied, "And what exactly is it that you do inside that mountain?"

"Deep Space Radar Telemetry," came Daniel's quick reply, but he added, "What?" when he saw Jack give him 'the look' again. Of course, Daniel didn't know that-

"How exciting, Jack, Mr. Jackson," Jeff said, now completely convinced that Jack and Daniel were hiding something, "I take it you either don't remember or don't know I used to work there for five years?"

"Eh…" was all Daniel could say.

"And don't you think Deep Space Radar Telemetry from the inside of a mountain is a little awkward," Jeff continued, "Or that an archeologist involved with DSRT is a bit strange?"

"Look, Jeff," Jack returned, "We don't need to answer any of your questions, it's not like we're in a damn cross-exam!"

"Oh, you'd better," came Jeff's reply, "I know you came out of that damn mountain three days ago, I know that _something_'s going on, and I want to know what, how and why."

"Well, I'll tell you why!" Jack returned, and ignored Daniel, the only one who was trying to make and Jack keep his voice down, "I think it's none of your damn business, I don't need to explain this to the man who-"

"Mr. Tracy?" Daniel suddenly said, "How did you know we came out of a mountain three days ago?"

* * *

"So, guys," Scott said to his brothers during lunch at Tracy Island, "Any volunteers to pick up dad from JFK Airport?"

"I'll go!" Alan exclaimed, "If I can go in Thunderbird One…"

"Sure squirt," Gordon replied, while grabbing the tuna salad, "And it's not like anyone will notice One landing at a _public_ airport."

"Oh yeah," Alan sighed, "I kinda forgot about that."

"I don't mind going," John suddenly said, "It's about time I practiced my flying skills again."

Gordon grinned, "Not much action up there, huh?"

"You'd be surprised," John answered with an equal mischievous grin on his face. "Anyway, did Dad say which one of the planes I had to take?"

Scott shook his head, "No. But I'm sure the Ford 2 would do. After all, it's just gonna be the two of you, right?"

"Yeah, I guess."

For a moment, the four brothers were awfully quiet – quite the miracle actually – that is, until the phone rang.

"I'll get it," Scott said. "Scott Tracy speaking."

"_Scott? Look, it's me-"_

"Dad? Hi, how's your-"

"_I'm sorry Scott, but I have to interrupt. Just tell your brothers that what was missing three days ago is no longer lost. I'm still heading towards JFK, but you're going to need something bigger than just the Ford 2, preferably the Ford 5, if you know what I mean. Oh, and please prepare the villa for some visitors."_

"FAB, dad. See you soon," Scott replied, fully understanding the cryptic message his dad just told him, but still wondering how on Earth his father had managed to make contact with an alien life form.

"What was that all about?" Alan asked, as soon as Scott hung up the phone.

"Looks like International Rescue is back in action," Scott said with a mysterious smile, "Dad just called to inform that he's found our ET's from the Colorado mountain-"

"The _aliens_?"

"Yeah, Gordo, the _aliens_. Now, he's bringing them here, and he ordered us to take any necessary precautions," Scott said, immediately taking the lead in this 'emergency situation', "That means, switching the alarm off, no IR business while they're here, and John-"

"Yes?"

"You'd better take the Ford 5, _and_ I'd like someone to go with you. In case anything… _happens_."

"I'll go! I'll go!" Alan nearly yelled. The thought of actually seeing three aliens first hand… he just couldn't wait to meet them.

* * *

"You still didn't answer Daniel's question," Jack said, while glaring at his former Air Force colleague.

"I didn't?" came the easy reply.

"No, you didn't, and I'd still like to know how exactly you knew we came out of a mountain in Colorado."

"Well, if you insist-"

Two pairs of cold eyes locked.

"Yes, I insist."

"Assuming you're Jack O'Neill, I'm sure you must remember that I got transferred to NASA a couple of years after I'd started working at Deep Space Radar Telemetry?" Not waiting for an answer, Jeff continued, "Well, some of my colleagues informed me three days ago that they had noticed an unusual high energy outburst somewhere near Colorado Springs. Knowing that I'm still involved with governmental business, and since I was visiting the US anyway, they'd thought this matter would be interesting. Especially since it matched with the rumors I'd heard so many years ago…"

"What rumors?"

"That inside a top secret mountain facility, somewhere in Colorado, there was a program similar to the well-known _Area 51_."

"And how do you think you're going to prove that?"

Jeff actually had to smile at that. "You'd be surprised."

"But that's still not the whole truth," Jack replied, "You're still hiding something, I know it."

"Well, I guess that makes it even," Jeff smirked, "Because I know you're not telling me everything either."

* * *

The rest of the ride to the airport, was actually awfully quiet. Neither Jeff nor Jack – or Daniel for that matter – wanted, or dared, to say anything else about the top secret business they were involved in. However, when the limo reached the airport, and the three men got out, a great surprised awaited them.

"Sam?"

"Carter?"

"Daniel? Jack? Wha- wha- what are you guys doing here?" Sam exclaimed, as she suddenly stood face to face with her two team members, "I thought that bald guy had- had- well, you know what."

"No, actually- oh shit," Daniel suddenly said, remembering something _very_ important, and turned pale.

"What?" Jack asked, looking at his terrified team member, "What, Daniel? Talk to me!"

However, instead of an answer, Daniel's gaze shifted from Jack's face to the backpack the colonel was still holding. "Oh, that's definitely _shit,_" the CO of SG-1 murmured, his face also turning pale white.

"Guys? Guys? What's the matter?" Sam asked, "What's in that bag?"

"What time is it?" Daniel suddenly asked.

"Uh, a quarter to five. Why?" Sam answered, still confused about the odd behavior of Jack and Daniel.

"Great," Jack muttered, "Fifteen minutes left…"

"Fifteen minutes left to _what_, Jack?" came Jeff's voice, "We'd really like to know _what_ the hell you're talking about here!"

"Well, eh, you see-" Daniel started, "When we, eh, woke up, that bald guy told us, hell, he even showed us, that he held Sam as a captive some place, and threatened to kill her if we didn't do what he wanted us to do."

"A _bald_ guy, huh?" Jeff said, already having his suspicions.

"Yeah," Jack added, "Real nice fellow, wanted us to blow up that building you were in with the bomb I now have in my backpack, however, when you said you had found Carter, I guess Daniel and I just kinda forgot about it. Until now, that is."

"You _forgot_ about having a bomb in your bag?" Lady Penelope exclaimed, "Really, that is the most-"

"It's okay, Penny," Jeff interjected, "I guess, judging on the 'fifteen minutes' Jack just muttered, we have now thirteen minutes left until the bomb goes off, am I right?" When he saw Jack and Daniel nod, he continued. "Alright, I think the ETA of the boys is about three minutes, that should give us just enough time to dump the bomb in the ocean."

"Wow, wow, wow," Jack said, "What are you talking about? Dumping that bomb in the ocean? That's suicide!"

"Not unless you know how to do it," came Jeff's reply.

"Yeah, and you're the astronaut that miraculously knows everything about bombs, and whether or not it's safe to dump one in the ocean – and, let me guess, you've done this before with civilian equipment?"

When Jeff did not answer, Jack's eyes grew wide. "You did _what_? How the hell did you-"

"Now's not the time, Jack. Once the bomb's gone, I'll give you all the answers you want."

"You'd better," Jack murmured.


	8. Part VIII

Lightning 

_Part VIII_

"Great, just great," Alan muttered. He looked out of the left window of the plane he was currently flying. Not only he didn't get to see the aliens at all, his dad had run up to the plane, and had given him and John the task to dump a _massive_ amount of C-4 in the ocean. Just because those… idiotic aliens had 'forgotten' they were carrying a bomb in their backpack. Not that he didn't want to do it or anything, Alan just thought the whole situation was plain stupid.

"Alan, you ready?" John yelled from the rear of the plane, ready to dump the bomb in the middle of the North Atlantic. "We're running out of time!"

"FAB!" Alan yelled back, as he pushed the button to open a hatch in the rear.

"Okay," John responded after a few seconds, "You can close it again!"

Alan pushed the same button once again, and John sat down next to him. "Just a few more seconds," the eldest blond-haired Tracy said, "Let's get the hell out of here!"

Alan smirked. "FAB!"

* * *

"Okay," Jeff said, glancing at his watch, "They should be back any minute now."

Daniel looked up at the sky, and indeed, he saw a small plane closing in on their position. "You've got some heroic pilots, Mr. Tracy. That's something even I can't deny."

The CEO of Tracy Enterprises just smiled. "I'm sure they'd love to hear that."

* * *

"Nice work, boys," Jeff said to his two blonde sons, "And now, I'd like you to meet… some old friends of mine."

"Oh, eh, Daniel Jackson."

"Samantha Carter."

"What? Oh, Jack O'Neill."

Alan just stood there, obviously disappointed by the lack of green slime on the so-called _aliens,_ butJohn smiled and shook each hand. "John Tracy. Nice to meet you."

Sam's eyes grew wide. "_Tracy_? You don't happen to be related to…"

"Him?" John said, pointing at his father. "Oh, no. He's just my dad."

"Oh, I didn't know that… you don't look like him very much, do you?" Sam asked. "I mean, you're blonde, he's brown…"

Suddenly, John's smile seemed to fade a little. "No, I don't," he said, a little sad, "But I can guarantee you that he's as much my father as yours can ever be yours."

"Oh, okay." Sam said with a smile. She really liked this guy… not to mention that he quite possibly had the squarest jaws and most handsome face on the world.

"Hang on," Jack interrupted, "Jeff's your father right? Just a while ago, he told us… me and Daniel, that is – did you _really _earn a medal of honor? How old were you? 20? 21?"

"Eh," John hesitated, "Actually, that wasn't me-"

"Come on guys," Jeff interrupted the three with a laugh, "No need to do a cross-exam on my son! Besides, we've gotta go… we need to pick up Fermat too?"

"No, actually, we don't. Scott's taking… _care_ of that," John answered, with an emphasis on _care_.

Jeff understood it immediately – Scott went to Massachusetts with Thunderbird One. "Alright then, let's go."

* * *

Four hours, and a lot of questions later, the plane finally approached Tracy Island.

'Thank God,' Jeff thought, 'One more question, and I would've hit someone.'

As Jack, Sam and Daniel watched in awe as the plane descended, Jeff reminisced the _long_ flight. In no more than four hours Jack and his comrades had gotten to know a _lot_ of things. Yes, Alan was his son too. Yes, he did marry Lucy eventually. No, unfortunately she died twelve years ago. No, it's okay.

After that, a short silence. And than it begun all over again.

No, this was not the only plane Jeff owned, he had six other private jets. No, he did not live anywhere in the vicinity of the United States, he lived on a tropical island. Yes, he really did. Along with his family and a couple of very good friends. Yes, most of the time actually pretty good weather. In fact, you'll probably get to see it for yourself very soon. Yes, we're going to the island now-

Jeff sighed. Arguing with one of his sons was a piece of cake compared to this cross-exam.

* * *

"Welcome back, guys," Gordon said with a mischievous grin on his face as the six people entered the Tracy mansion. Jeff could tell by the look on his son's face, that he was eager to meet the three so-called 'aliens'. Little did Gordon know, that the aliens were in fact-

"WHAT? _THEY_ are the ali-"

"Shut up, Gordo," Alan replied with an equal mischievous grin, knowing what Gordon was about to say as the second youngest Tracy-son first caught a glimpse of the three visitors. "Yes, they are the visitors. Quite a surprise, don't you think?"

"Knock it off, boys," Jeff interjected, "Where _is_ everybody, Gordon?"

"Let's see- Scott's picking Fermat up, Virgil's still on the business trip," Gordon said, the mischievous grin returning on his face – boy, did he love secret code talking, "Brains is _down under_, if you know what I mean (Jeff snorted, while the three SG-1 members just looked plain confused), Onaha and Tin-Tin are at the mainland, shopping – and Kyrano's around here somewhere, I think."

"Right, thanks-" Jeff was about to say more, but was interrupted by one of his visitors.

"Look, quit the code talking, I want to know what's going on here – and I want to know it right now."

Jeff sighed. Not _more_ questions…

Jack was confused. Not just a bit, but a lot. As he looked at his team members, he _knew_ they were thinking the same. As the kid, probably yet another Tracy-son, explained where 'everybody' was, even more questions appeared in Jack's mind. He knew that some 'Scott' was picking a 'Fermat' up, but who were they? And who was this 'Virgil'-person on a business trip? What did the kid mean with 'Brains being _down under_? Australia? Of perhaps he was… nah, that's too gross. Onaha and Tin-Tin (Who the hell would name his kid TIN-TIN, Jack thought) were probably the only women around, since they were doing the shopping… but were they family? Or quite possibly two Jeff's 'good friends'? Where was the mainland? And who the hell was Kyrano?

Questions… questions… questions… No, Jack couldn't stand it anymore- "Look, quit the code talking, I want to know what's going on here – and I want to know it right now."

Jeff sighed, and looked at his three sons. They all just shrugged – but Jeff knew they were willing to back him up in the upcoming cross-exam. "What do you want to know?"

But before Jack even had the chance to ask something about Scott, Fermat, Virgil, Brains, Tin-Tin, Onaha or Kyrano… Daniel asked quickly, "Why do you want to help us?"

"Excuse me?" Jeff replied – this wasn't the first question he had been expecting.

"Why do you want to help us?" Daniel repeated. "You don't know me, you don't know Sam, you don't really have a _close_ relationship with Jack… and still you're willing to help us? We carry a _really_ large amount of C-4 with us… still, you're willing to help us? You just let your own _sons _dump it in the ocean?"

"Mr. Jackson, Daniel-" Jeff said, "What do you know about the Thunderbirds?"

Daniel blinked. "I don't see what that's got to do with it, but – eh, they're the good guys, got these really big planes, and-"

"Mr. Jackson, how many Thunderbirds are there?" John suddenly asked.

"What the hell has _that_ got to do with anything?" Jack exclaimed. "We're trying to get some goddamn answers, and you're just avoiding the questions!"

"We're not avoiding any questions, Mr…"

"O'Neill. And yes, you are."

"Well then, Mr. O'Neill, we're not avoiding any questions," John said coolly, glaring at Jack, "We're just asking you a simple question in between: how many Thunderbirds are there?"

"Eh," Jack hesitated, not exactly knowing the perfect answer, "Two?"

From the corner of his eye, Jack saw the blonde kid, Alan, whisper something in his brother's ear – Gordon was it, the colonel thought.

"Just one more question," John continued, "Where are you from?"

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Colorado Springs. You just should've asked your dad, he knew that-"

But John just seemed to ignore him. "What year is it?"

'Damn it,' Sam thought, 'He's onto us…'

"Eh," Jack hesitated again, desperately looking at Sam. "20… 21?"

"I knew it!" Gordon suddenly exclaimed. "You're not aliens! You're time-travelers!"

Jeff sighed, and made a mental note to himself that not only he had to hide the Independence DVD, but his Back To The Future Trilogy as well. "Gordon. Quiet."

But it was too late. All hell broke loose.

* * *

Scott approached the Tracy living room with great caution. In all the years he'd lived there, he'd never heard so much noise coming from it.

"Time travelers? No way! That's so much cooler than Aliens!" - that was definitely Alan.

"How the hell did you know that we're-" – Unknown male voice.

"Shut up, Daniel!" – Second unknown male voice.

"Guys, please stop, you're not making this any better-" – Unknown female voice.

"So, tell us, when are you from?" – Gordon.

"Oooh, I bet they're from the past! I'm right, aren't I? I knew it! I knew it!" – Alan.

"Alan, please, don't make this any worse!" – that was John.

"What? You started it in the first place! If you hadn't asked them about 'what year is this', we wouldn't have found out at all!" – Alan again.

"Come on, Alan, don't be stupid! John's a genius!" – Gordon.

Meanwhile, the three unknown voices (one of the male voices was a 'Daniel', Scott just didn't remember which one) also continued to argue.

"Just great is this! How are we ever going to get back now?"

"Don't look at me! Technology has never been my department! I'm an archeologist!"

Short silence.

"What? My area of expertise is quantum technology, not time-traveling!"

"I don't care! Use your quantums to get us back!"

"It's not that easy, Jack! Quantum has to do with the diversity of the extr-"

"Sure, sure, skip the techno-babble, I get the picture! Daniel-"

"What? Me? I'm an _archeologist_! My expertise is the _past_, Jack! I don't think that's of any use, because we're in the FUTURE, remember?"

"Yes! I _knew_ it! I _knew_ it!" Scott heard Alan yell. "They're from the past! I told you so, I told you so-"

Scott looked at his watch, and decided that it probably was time for him to interfere. He opened the door, stepped inside the living room, and tried to close the door as loudly as he could.

* * *

**BAM!**

Each one of the seven people previously arguing with each other, turned to stare at the newcomer.

"Hi Scott," Gordon was the first to break the silence, "Did you meet our visitors yet? They're ti-"

"Time-travelers," Scott finished, "I know. I wanna bet that even Virgil knows by now, all the noise you made."

"Well, we can't help it," Alan tried to defend Gordon, "It's not everyday that we have _time-travelers_ in our living room!"

"Alright, Alan – that's enough," Jeff interjected, "It's late, I'm sure we could all use some sleep. Scott, can you escort our guests to their quarters? Gordon, try to pull Brains and Fermat away from their computer screen, Alan – take a shower, and go to bed. Next morning, we'll discuss everything. By the way Scott, nice to see you – how was your flight?"

"Oh, as usual," Scott replied as he led their guests to their quarters.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, everything was quiet once again. To be honest, that is how Jeff liked his house the best – though he didn't want to trade the company of his sons for anything in the world, of course.

"I don't know, John," Jeff sighed, as he sat down behind his desk, "I really don't know what to do anymore. I know, it was probably the best thing to do, bringing them here… but they're from the _past_. Aliens, I could've dealt with… but time-traveling…"

John sat down at the couch in his father's office / International Rescue's command and control-center. "To be honest, I didn't expect it either. But, somewhere in your conversation I just got an idea… I mean, everyone on Earth knows us, and everyone knows we've got five 'birds. And…"

"John," Jeff replied, "I don't blame you, I really don't – it's just that… how are we going to pull this one of? We're International Rescue, we're suppose to rescue 'em all, but sending at least three people back to the past-"

"You did the right thing, dad, you really did," John said, and yawned, "But if you don't mind, I think I'll go to bed. I'm sure that we'll figure everything out tomorrow."

* * *

The next morning, Alan and Gordon were having breakfast at the crack of dawn. However, it did take another four hours for everyone to join them… first their father, who was actually quite surprised to see them up this early (especially since Alan and Gordon usually were the ones who couldn't get out of bed at all);

"I really don't need to know why you're up this early, do I?"

As his two sons shook their heads in unison, he grabbed a bowl of cornflakes with him, and disappeared into his office.

Next was Scott;

"Man, and I thought I was up early," the eldest Tracy-son said, suppressing a yawn. He grabbed some sandwiches and went off to work on Thunderbird 1.

After that, Brains and Fermat joined them in the kitchen;

"G-g-g… hello, boys," Brains stuttered, "W-what are you two d-d-doing u-u-u… out of bed so e-e-early?"

"Waiting for the time-travelers, Brains."

"Oh, that's t-t-true! Could you come and g-g-g-get me when they a-a-a… wake up? I'd l-love to talk to them…"

After his Brains took some sandwiches and a apple with him, as Fermat got a bowl of Cheerios, and joined his father _down under_.

John got out of bed shortly after that, instead of asking what his two youngest brothers were doing out of bed so early, he immediately knew what they were up to;

"Come on, guys, give them a break. I'm sure they won't like a cross-exam during their breakfast," John said, sitting down next to Gordon at the table.

"Aw, no fun," Gordon replied, "Can't you go eat your breakfast somewhere else?"

"No, I won't. Otherwise those poor people never get the chance to eat theirs."

Alan and Gordon sighed. There was no escaping this time.

As Jack woke up, it took a while for his brain to register where he was. He was lying at a comfy bed, and when he looked at his right, he saw Daniel lying in another bed across the room. As he got out of bed, he noticed that he was wearing blue PJ's (way too small for him) with rockets all over them-

'Oh yeah… now I remember – what was his name again? Oh yeah, Scott – was so kind to lend me some old PJ's of his.' Jack sighed, and swore to kill the guy as soon as he saw him.


	9. Part IX

**Lightning**

_Part IX_

Daniel groggily opened his eyes. As he turned his head 'round, he saw something he'd never thought he would once see in his life: Jack in rocket-PJ's.

"Ja-aaaack…" Daniel murmured, suppressing a yawn, "Is that really you, or am I seeing things?"

"Don't even start," came the reply, "I'm going to kill the guy who lend me these."

"I don't think he'd appreciate that really much, Jack," Daniel said, getting out of bed. It was then that Jack noticed Daniel's… outfit.

"Geez, Daniel," Jack said with a big grin on his face, "I never knew you liked Pokémon?"

"What? Oh, well, yeah," came Daniel's reply, his cheeks turning red, "Eh, I got PJ's from… Alan, I thought was his name. And, well, he obviously likes… Pokémon." The archeologist stared at his shirt, which was about four sizes too small for him. "And he's also not as tall as me, unfortunately."

Jack smirked, "Ya think?"

* * *

Half an hour later, the two men had taken a shower, put on some fresh clothes (fortunately for them, the right size this time), met up with Sam – and were now heading towards the kitchen for – what they thought would be – a peaceful and quiet breakfast. Boy, were they wrong…

As Jack, Sam and Daniel entered the kitchen, they were not surprised to see three of the – what they thought – four Tracy brothers already sitting there, ready for some questions and answers.

"Look, guys…" Jack started, but was interrupted by the oldest Tracy-brother sitting there.

"We know, breakfast first, answers later," John smiled, holding up his bowl of Cheerios, "And besides, I haven't finished mine either."

"But John-"

"No buts, Alan," John interrupted, "It's not like they're going anywhere, right?"

"I guess," Alan sighed. "Hey, Gordo, shouldn't we get Brains up here? He said he wanted to talk to them, right?"

"Right," Gordon answered, "See you soon, folks!"

* * *

As the two pranksters of the Tracy family walked away, John finished eating his Cheerios, excused himself and headed towards his father's office. Of course, that was _the_ opportunity for the three SGC-employees to review their current situation – while eating their breakfast.

"Okay, Carter, status?" Jack immediately took the lead, also grabbing some Cheerios.

"One word: wow. This place has like, the most advanced technology I've seen in years, excluding everything… off-world of course – and I don't just think it's the fact that we've traveled several years into the future. Titanium locking mechanisms, stale plate doors practically _everywhere_… if I didn't know any better, I'd say we're in some sort of futuristic SGC," Sam immediately answered.

"Alright, so… state-of-the-art electronic equipment – what have you got, Daniel?"

"Eh, I don't have that much to mention, honestly. Four Tracy-brothers, Scott, John, Gordon and Alan. They all seem pretty close, eh, John seems to me like he's the wise guy, Gordon is a big fan of Independence Day and Back To The Future, Alan has a knack for Pokémon – and both him and Gordon look like the troublemakers of the family to me – and Scott obviously loves rockets. Jeff… well, we've met him, that's not something I can say of at least five or six other people… Something about a Tin-Tin, Onaha, Kyrano…"

"Nice names," Jack muttered under his breath.

"Don't forget the guy on the business trip," Sam added, "I thought his name was… Virgil?"

"Virgil, right, thanks," Daniel continued, "And… then we've got this 'Brains'-person-"

"What is it with those names around here?" Jack now said aloud.

Daniel counted on his fingers, "Anyway, I think we've covered them all, right?"

"No, wait," Sam suddenly said, "Fermat. That's the last one."

"Right! Thanks, Sam!"

"Don't mention it."

"Okay, folks – so, what's up next?" Jack continued.

"Well, we've got this big cross-exam coming up," Sam answered, "And I quote John; 'It's not like we're going anywhere, right?' But to be honest, I think we're running out of options. They've treated us good so far, I don't see why they can't be of any help…"

"Aw, come on, Sam!" Jack exclaimed, "You don't think they've got some time-traveling machine standing in their back yard, do you?"

"Unless…" Daniel interrupted, thinking out aloud, "Well, from what I could gather, Sam – you were 'saved' by this Lady… Penelope?" As Sam nodded, he continued, "Don't you think it's a coincidence that they just 'happened' to be looking for that bald guy? And that they also just happened to know Jeff Tracy?"

Sam nodded, "I know, I've been thinking about that too – come to think of it, how did they know in the first place we worked in a mountain in Colorado?"

"Yeah, well – I tried to asked the same thing, but all the response I got was, 'Let's just say I've got my resources'," Jack said, and added a few seconds later, "I think this is going to turn in to one hell of an interrogation, guys…"

* * *

Another fifteen minutes later, the three members of SG-1 had met up with Brains and Fermat ("Love the glasses," Jack had said with a smirk), but little did they know that they'd actually also met up with a third new person… Virgil Tracy, who had joined the 'conversation' held in Jeff's office by audio link.

"Alright," Jeff started, "Let's do it this way; your question, our question. It's the most effective way of a two-way interrogation, and that way you can avoid a shouting match, much like yesterday's."

"Don't tell me you've done this before," Jack grunted.

"Yeah, well – we have. Our turn," Gordon said with a mischievous grin on his face.

"What?" Jack exclaimed, "Wait, wait, wait a minute – we haven't asked anything yet!"

Still, the mischievous grin didn't leave Gordon's face, and Jack somehow got the suspicion that the Tracy-family knew more about interrogations (and possible other extra-curricular activities?) than they told. "Oh, yes, you have," the second youngest Tracy-son said, "I think it was, 'Don't tell me you've done this before', if I remember correctly…"

"Gordon," Jeff said warningly, "Don't push it. Jack, if you'd be so please to tell us your side of the story…"

"Eh – Sam?"

"Me?" Carter said, quite surprised she had to honor to tell the adventures the trio had been in the last four days, "Well – here goes."

* * *

It took the Captain a whole forty-five minutes to tell the miraculous story from her point of view. Sam, Jack and Daniel had agreed in their short private conversation during breakfast, that they would reveal the secrets of the SGC – but within limits. No need to go into detail, Sam thought, as she told the crowd a slightly edited version of how the trio had ended up in 2020. No Apophis, no Serpent Guards… and no Teal'c. Sam felt sorry for her friend, but still… there had to be a way to get him back, there just _had_ to be… After that, she explained how they'd arrived in Colorado Springs, watched a real Thunderbirds-rescue on TV (all four of the Tracy-boys actually got a little jumpy at hearing that, but fortunately for them, neither one of the SG-1 members noticed), then decided to try and contact the Thunderbirds… but considerably failing at that, the minute they'd decided to follow the big bloke. She finished her side of the story, at the point they were sedated by the ugly red fellow, since the next thing she knew was waking up, and hearing the pink lady and her friend.

Daniel continued, telling their side of the story – they'd woken up, got to see Sam at a TV, tied to a chair. The bald guy had told him and Jack to plant a bomb under the World Nation Tower in New York, and after that, they'd met Jeff and the rest of the story didn't need a further explanation.

"So… our turn," Jack said, after Daniel had finished the story, "Yesterday, you told us you knew the bald guy… how come? And do you have anything to do with the fact we had to blow up the building you had a meeting at?"

Jeff sighed. This was the question he had been expecting. This morning, he had a brief conversation with each one of his five sons – whether or not it was okay to tell the newcomers about the Thunderbirds. Alan and Gordon had said in unison, 'That's okay with me', Scott had just shrugged – not that he didn't care, but the trio seemed okay to him, however – both John and Virgil had their doubts. Virgil because he hadn't met the 'not-aliens' yet, but if the majority agreed, he'd agree too – and John… well, John just didn't know for sure yet. Not that wasn't natural… John was usually the one who thought things through as thoroughly possibly, but still – Jeff usually relied on John a lot. And if John didn't know for sure, then Jeff didn't know for sure either. However, four out of six was still a majority and Jeff decided to go with that. If it were to become a problem, they would deal with it eventually.

"That's another story… a rather long one, actually."

"Take your time," Jack said sarcastically, "We've got _all_ the time in the world."

At that, Jeff had to smile a little, but continued anyway. "The reason why that bald guy, his name's _The Hood_, by the way, wanted to blow up the World Nation Tower… is probably because he knew I'd be there."

Jack had to blink twice. Did he just hear that correctly? The bald guy had been after _Jeff TRACY_?

"A couple of years ago… a mineshaft collapsed in South-Africa. We were there to save them… but unfortunately, we couldn't save them all… you just can't save them all…" Jeff stopped for a moment, remembering all those terrible events in his past, "We thought he was dead. The Hood was one of the few we couldn't save. But somehow, he survived. And he blamed me for not saving him. So… several months ago, he turned up again. Intended to kill all of us, especially me. And… to reveal all of our secrets."

"Secrets, what secrets?" Jack asked, but Sam's eyes grew wide, as she realized what Jeff Tracy just told them. "You mean… no. No, that's- that's not possible!"

"Sam? What? What's not possible?"

"Eh, Sam?" Daniel added, "You know, we'd appreciate it if you'd tell us what this is all about!"

"They're… they're…" Sam stuttered, "They're the- the-"

"The _what_, Sam?"

"The THUNDERBIRDS!"

Jack's jaw fell wide open. Daniel raised an eyebrow à la Teal'c. Sam still couldn't believe she just said that aloud. After at least five minutes of total silence, Jack was the first to speak up. "Is that – true?"

"Yes," Jeff answered, "And I do hope, that you will understand now, that there was no way I could've answered your questions before I knew you were completely safe, out of the grasps of the Hood."

"Oh, I hate that guy," Alan muttered.

"Okay, so the next obvious question," Daniel said, "Can you help us get us back to the past?"

"We kinda figured," Sam added, "That you guys have these very powerful computers… am I right?"

"Yes, we have," Jeff answered, "Please continue."

"Well, I was – we were actually hoping you could hack into the back-up system of the SGC, since it's completely abandoned now, and figure out where the second Stargate is located…"

"Eh," John interrupted, "To be honest, we already did that."

"Really?" Sam exclaimed, "And?"

"Eh… it's in Russia."

"Okay, great!" Jack said happily, hoping this was the way for them to get back to 1999, "You _fly_ us there, we do a little break-and-entering, and voilà-"

"No."

"What? What do you mean, no?"

"No, we won't fly you to Russia," Jeff repeated, "Since the second… _Stargate _is under military control, I'm afraid we can't interfere."

"_What_?"

"You see, Jack – that's what we are all about. International Rescue has been able to operate throughout all these years, because we maintain _complete_ secrecy and because we are a stand-alone organization, not related to any government at all. That's also why we can't interfere in any governmental operations. It would undo the IR-policy we've kept and maintained all these years," Jeff explained.

"Alright, we get it," Jack answered, "But now what? We can't stay here, I won't stay here, I-"

"That's what we've been thinking about this morning, when you guys were still asleep," this time it was John who replied, "Dad, Virgil and me-"

"Virgil?" Daniel interrupted, "I thought he was on… a business trip?"

"Well, I was – sort of," a new voice suddenly said, "Could someone please switch video on?"

_What the hell-_ Jack thought, when he heard the voice, although he didn't see any new faces in the room. Jeff, however, didn't freak out at all, and just turned a monitor on. "Jack, Daniel, Sam – I'd like you to meet my third son, Virgil," he said proudly.

"Eh, nice to meet you," Daniel said to the monitor, still astonished by the sudden appearance of yet _another_ son of Jeff Tracy, "What exactly do you mean by 'sort of'?"

"I _am_ on a business trip right now, just not for Tracy Enterprises, but International Rescue. You see, I've been told that you thought there were only two Thunderbirds. In fact, there are five. You've seen One and Two, and they're the ones usually used at land rescues. One's the supersonic jet…"

"Fifteen thousandkilometersper hour," Scott proudly said, "Fastest plane on Earth's surface."

"Fifteen _thousand_?" Sam exclaimed, "No way!"

"… Two's our rescue freighter, then there's Three, our space craft-"

"_Space craft_?" Sam exclaimed excitedly – again, "Wow!"

"Thanks," Alan said with a big grin on his face, "I think it's 'wow' too."

"-and there's Four, our submarine…"

"You have a _submarine_?" – Sam again.

Virgil, however, continued to ignore the Captain's comments, and continued, "-and of course Five, most of the time inhabited by our lovely pilot John Tracy-"

"Thank you, Virgil," John said sarcastically.

"Five is our very own space station, 24hours a day, 7 hours a week fully operational, and always manned by at least one member of International Rescue, in this case that's me."

"You have your own _SPACE STATION_? I think I'm gonna faint…"

"Don't do that yet," Scott said with a gracious smile – he liked that woman already, "You can always do that later on the tour."

"We get a _tour_?" – Jack, this time. "Cool."


	10. Part X

**Lightning **

_Part X_

"Alright," Jeff interrupted again, "Now that everyone and everything's been introduced – let's continue. As John said before this whole introduction-thing started, we've been working on figuring out how to get you guys back home again. I'm sorry to say that there's no way we can get you back by Earth's resources – however, we skimmed to a few pages of information Virgil and John managed do decipher…"

"You _cracked_ the SGC-computers," Sam exclaimed again, "I-I- this is great! You guys have the most advanced technology I've seen in _years_!"

"That's probably because we're from the past, Sam," Daniel answered, "Everything new to us is probably old to them."

"Oh, right."

"Anyway," Jeff continued, "Virgil and John managed to decipher that you've made contact with several alien species, am I correct?"

"Yes, and?"

"We were wondering if any of these… _species_ would be willing to send you back to the past, assuming at least one has the technology to?"

Sam's eyes grew wide (she was having the time of her life, here in the future), "Of course! Why couldn't we have thought of that before? You say you have this space station, right?" Not waiting for an answer, she continued, "If we can somehow reproduce the same signal we usually use to contact, you know, _others_, we can boost it and send it through the galaxy, hoping that, for example, the Tollan or maybe the Asguard pick it up!"

"I wouldn't count on the Tollan," Jack said, with a hint of sarcasm, "They weren't so eager on sharing their technology in the past, so I doubt it's changed in the future."

"But surely the Asguard would be willing to help us?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah, probably," Sam replied, "But bear in mind that the Asguard live in _another_ galaxy. It's gonna take a whole lot of power to boost the signal _that_ much."

Jack just shrugged, "Unless the Asguard has receivers _that_ strong we don't need to boost the signal _that_ much."

"Yeah, true…"

"Look," Scott suddenly interrupted, getting tired of the constant arguing of the visitors, "We don't know until we try, right? Dad?"

Jeff nodded, exactly knowing what his eldest son was up to, "Start working on it, boys."

* * *

"So…" Scott said, about two hours later, "Ready for the tour?"

Daniel and Jack looked at each other and nodded almost simultaneously. Sam was currently working on the… signal-booster-thing, together with – Alan? Gordon? No, John. _Damn_, Jack thought, _Jeff has way too many sons_.

"Always," Daniel replied, "So, what's up first?"

"The main hangar," Scott casually replied, as they descended some stairs, "It's where Thunderbird Two is parked."

"Thunderbird Two…"

"The rescue freighter. She's quite impressive, but you can't compare her with One."

"That's because you pilot One," retorted Alan with a smirk on his face, "Personally, I think Two is a fine craft. Granted, she's not so fast, but she comes in quite handy from time to time."

"And who asked you to tag along?" Scott replied.

"No one. I just wanted to make sure you didn't say something incredibly stupid about Three."

"Oh, Alan," Scott said mockingly, "How can you say such a thing. I would _never_…"

"Drop it, Scott," Alan answered, "The innocent routine doesn't fit you."

"Oh, and like it does to you."

"Yes!"

"Wow," Daniel suddenly said in awe, looking up at Thunderbird Two – as the four men had reached the main hangar, "It's so…"

"Big? Green?" Jack said with a smirk, "It's cool, though."

Scott smiled. "I'm sure Virgil would love to hear that."

"Virgil? Isn't that the guy up in Thunderbird Five?"

"Yeah, true," Scott answered, "But it's usually John who's up there. He's got a real knack for anything to do with stars and stuff. Virgil's the pilot of Two, Gordon and Alan take terms in Three and Four, and One's mine."

"So… what are all those… _things_ standing around Thunderbird Two?" Jack asked, his hands already aching to fly the big, green craft.

"Well, on the left you've got the Thunderizer – comes in handy when you want to blast your way through a wall or a titanium door, or something like that. Next to the Thunderizer is the Firefly. We use it mostly for making our way through a fire, as the name says. And the third is the Mole, my personal favorite," Alan said with a smirk, "And just as a mole, it digs its way under the ground. Mostly used when we've got to rescue people trapped in a basement or…"

"Something like that," Jack finished. "Cool."

* * *

Next was Thunderbird One's hangar – and Jack was practically drooling all over the craft.

"Holy Mother of Jesus," he whispered, "I've _never_ seen anything like this… she must be a real beauty to fly in…"

"She is," Scott said with a smile, "Say, Jack… you'd like to try?"

"What?" Jack exclaimed, not sure he'd heard that last part right, "You'd let me fly a Thunderbird?"

"Well, I'll be sitting next to you, of course, in case anything goes wrong…"

Jack 'hmmpff-ed' at that.

"… and Dr Jackson is also welcome to tag along, if you want, that is."

"And just how fast does that thing go?"

"Fifteen thousandkilometers per hour."

"No, thank you, I think I'll just pass. Why don't you and Jack have some fun, I think I'll check on Sam."

"You do just that," Jack said to Daniel, eyes still on Thunderbird One, "You do that, yeah."

* * *

"So, Dr Jackson," Alan spoke up, as he and Daniel were making their way back to the manor, "Enjoy your stay yet?"

"Well, I can't complain," the archeologist began, "But still, it's weird. Being in the future and all that kind of crazy stuff."

Alan smiled. "We're working on it. You said you wanted to check on your friend… Miss Carter, was it?"

"Yeah, Sam. Although I have no idea where she is right now."

"If I had to take a guess, I'd say she's with John, Brains and Fermat _down under_."

"See! You keep saying that, 'down under', and I still haven't got a clue what it means."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Alan apologized, "It's sort of a Tracy-lingo. Basically, it means the lab. That's where Brains keeps all the cool stuff."

"Cool stuff?" Daniel asked bewildered.

"Oh, you know – high-tech, multi-functional tools and gadgets, that stuff."

"I wanna bet Sam's in heaven…"

Alan raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"Oh, nothing, it's just that… Sam, or captain Carter is kind of a technology-addict." Daniel explained.

"Hmm…"

"What _hmm…_? Good _hmm_, or bad _hmm_?"

"Actually, I don't know whether it's good or bad," Alan tried to explain as he lead his companion to Brains' lab, "You see, I really don't mind you seeing all the Thunderbirds, and all our advanced technology… but doesn't that quite screw with the timeline? After all, once you're back in the past, you'll still have the knowledge of the future. And by knowing of the future, you'll risk altering the timeline… And frankly, I'd rather not see that happen."

At that, Daniel had to blink twice. At first sight, Alan appeared to be the… _squirt_ of the family – his Pokémon-PJ's didn't help him with that – but SG-1's resident archeologist realized that there was more about Alan that met the eye. In fact, all of Jeff Tracy's son seemed to have that rather_ odd_ 'aura', if you could call it that… The Tracy brothers were all humble, brave, and probably from time to time heroic, and while they remained just a bunch of crazy adolescents on the surface, Daniel couldn't help but get the feeling that there were some damn _good_ people on the inside. He didn't know any other way to describe it… and hell, maybe he was getting way to involved in this case – was it a case? – but the Tracy family had something mysterious about them. The archeologist couldn't help but suppress a laugh – he was a doctor of _Archeology_, not _Philosophy_, but the case – if it was a case in the first place, withan emphasison _if_– was soon forgotten as he and Alan arrived 'down under'.

* * *

In the middle of the magnificent room there were four people – or rather three adults and a kid – working on – what looked like – a very, very, veryfucked upvacuum cleaner. There was no other way to say it.

"It looks like a vacuum cleaner," Alan said, as if he had read Daniel's mind.

John turned around, and gave his little brother a heartwarming smile. "Yeah, I guess it does, doesn't it? But it's not a vacuum cleaner, I can assure you. I think we're almost done…"

"So… when are we gonna use it?"

"I'd say tomorrow… morning or afternoon. Something like that. Sam, Brains and I have to double check everything before we turn it on. See, it has to be connected with the power core of Thunderbird Five… and I really don't want a system overload. That would be a…"

"Disaster?"

"Something like that, yeah."

* * *

Meanwhile, Scott and Jack had finished their flight – Scott nearly had to drag Jack out of the plane.

"Wow, that was really… _cool_."

"Glad you thought so."

"Just out of curiosity," Jack suddenly asked, "Judging your flying skills… were you the Tracy brother who earned…"

"… the Medal of Honor?" Scott finished Jack's phrase with a smile, "So you've heard the story, huh?" As Jack and Daniel nodded, he continued, "Yeah, that was me alright. Joined the army for a couple of years before I 'retired'. No one understood why, especially not since I said I'd go and work for my dad's business, fly private jets. They all thought I was crazy, giving up F-16's for some slow civvy planes."

"Yeah, I know the feeling," Jack sighed, "When I first joined the Stargate-program, I had to tell everyone I joined Deep Space Radar Telemetry…"

"DSRT? No kiddin'! Were there actually people who _bought_ that one?"

"A few," Jack answered, but then added with a grin, "Never spoke to them again, after that."

Scott smiled. "By the way, you don't fly that bad either."

Jack couldn't help it but grin. "Thanks."

* * *

The rest of the day went by very quickly. Since Onaha and Tin-Tin were not due back until tomorrow, the Tracy's had to cook something for their selves – it was quickly decided that they'd put some pizzas in the microwave. After diner, the majority of the crowd settled in the living room, watching Gordon's favorite movie: Independence Day. Jeff and Jack, however, retreated in Jeff's office.

"So…" Jack begun.

"So…" Jeff returned with a smile. "Never thought we'd see each other again, Jack… and certainly not in a situation like this."

"No, that's true," Jack answered, "If you'd told me all those years ago, that one day I'd be traveling all over the galaxy, I would have laughed. If you'd told me that I'd accidentally end up in the future, meet up with an old pal, who happens to have become a _very_ successful aerospace developer and one of the most influential people in the entire world _plus_ the head of a covert, independent rescue organization with the most advanced technology I've seen in years – excluding Alien technology of course – I'd probably have thought you were crazy."

"Yeah, it's kind of weird sometimes, that it's all happening to me. But then again, I have no regrets. I have enjoyed every single moment of what I have done in the past, even the hard ones – because I know now they were necessary in order to achieve what I have now achieved. Don't you ever dare to forget that, Jack – you are who you want to be. And don't you dare to give up, Jack. Never give up."

"Not if it's up to me," Jack replied the words Jeff had said twice, so many years ago. But they both knew it. This time, it was just not for one day. They'd be friends forever.


	11. Part XI

**Lightning **

_Part XI_

The next morning, after breakfast, everything was set and Thunderbird Three was about to take off – the devcie worked best at the highest possible altitude. And what higher altitude than Thunderbird Five was there? However, in order to get to Thunderbird Five, they had to use… Thunderbird Three. At first, Jack, Sam and Daniel had watched in awe at the red, gigantic, red, impressive, red rocket.

* * *

'_Are you guys seeing what I'm seeing?'_

'_I think so, Sam, if you're seeing a big, red rocket?'_

'_I am.'_

'_Alright, I'm too.'_

_Sam had sighed in admiration. 'And we get to fly in it. This is the best day of my life, guys.'_

'_What? You've flown in Goa'uld vessels before!'_

'_I know! But this is something different… I mean, this is made by humans! On Earth!'_

'_Alright, I get the picture…'_

* * *

Back in the present, everyone (Alan, John, Sam, Jack and Daniel. Gordon had to stay behind, much to his annoyance, because Thunderbird Five only had five seats) had buckled up, and they were preparing for lift-off.

"Virgil, everything clear?"

"Affirmative, no air traffic anywhere in the vicinity of Tracy Island."

"Command and control?"

"Permission for lift-off. Good luck, boys."

"FAB," Alan replied, and turning to the three visitors, "You all set?"

"Yes!" Sam replied immediately, while Jack and Daniel just nodded. They all saw the two Tracy-boys press various buttons, and within the minute, they were off Earth's surface, up in the sky, through the atmosphere… and suddenly, all they could see was… stars. And a lot of them.

"Was it just me, or did that go _way_ too fast for my mind to register? We're in space already?"

"Yes, we are," John replied, "Thunderbird Three's boosters are way more advanced than those of the twentieth century space shuttles. We can go to the moon and back in less than half an hour, if we wanted to."

* * *

Not much later, they'd docked, met up with Virgil ('Nice fellow,' Jack had thought) and now, Sam and John were working on trying to install the device that had to send out the signal, while Jack and Daniel got the Thunderbird Five-tour by Alan and Virgil. They watched in awe (again) as the two Tracy-boys explained everything. However, the tour didn't last forever, and after two hours, Jack and Daniel were getting a little bored. Virgil and Alan were now unloading stuff from Thunderbird Three, and shipped it to the storage room of Five. John and Sam were still working on the… _vacuum cleaner_, but judging by the excited voices coming from the kitchen, Jack and Daniel had a faint suspicion it wouldn't take long before the… _vacuum cleaner_ would be finished. And indeed, it didn't take long for Sam come out of the kitchen, holding the vacuum cleaner-like device in her arms. She handed it to John, and he installed it somewhere under the device to control the power core settings.

"Okay… and now it's just waiting for your friends to reply," John said, after he'd pushed some buttons, apparently sending out the signal to the Asguard.

Jack sighed. As if he hadn't waited long enough yet.

* * *

"What's… that…" Daniel muttered, opening one eye. They had been waiting for hours, by now, and still no reply from the Asguard. But… things were about to change.

"Wow," John said. This time, it was their turn to watch in awe as they saw a _huge_ alien vessel floating in space, right in front of their eyes. "Someone, tell me I'm not seeing things."

"Ah, you've gotta love 'em," Jack said with a smirk, "Can you… communicate with them?"

Virgil immediately started pressing some buttons on the control panel, and immediately another light started to blink. "We do now."

Various gasps could be heard as Thor's face appeared on one of the many monitors aboard Thunderbird Five.

"That's…"

"An alien!" Alan exclaimed, "Oh, Gordon's _so_ gonna be jealous when we get back!"

"O'Neill?" Thor said, "In all these years, I never would have thought I would see you again. I thought you had vanished more than ten years ago?"

"Yeah, well, we sorta ended up here, in the future. And now-"

"You would like us to use our time-traveling technology to bring you back to the past."

"Well, assuming you have that kind of technology, we'd appreciate that, yeah."

"Alright, O'Neill, who needs to be send back to the past, and when do you want to go?"

"Oh, just me, Daniel and Sam here. And we'd like to go as soon as possible, if you'd like."

"Eh, Jack?" Daniel interrupted, "I _think_ he means 'when', as in, '1999'."

"Oh, that? Okay, 1999. And how exactly are you going to send us back to 1999? You don't happen to have a DeLorean standing in one of your ships, do you?"

Thor nodded, and signaled something, probably to a fellow-Asguard. "I do not know what a 'DeLorean' is, O'Neill, but I can assure you, that you will notice our ways in time. Alright, O'Neill and friends, prepare yourselves to go back to the past…"

* * *

_

* * *

_

WOOSH-

As the wormhole had roared to life, and General Hammond's '_SG-1, you have a go_' sounded all over the gate room, the four members of Stargate Command's all-famous team walked into the watery liquid.

But what SG-1 didn't know, was that one their most unwanted enemies was standing at the other side of the gate, not knowing what to expect when the chevrons of the Stargate at their side started to encode, though no one from his squadron had dialed any planet. So, it had to be an incoming traveler…

As the man yelled, "Guards!", his men responded quickly and formed a line directly opposite the gate, aimed and ready to fire.

The men waited patiently for the chevrons to lock, and when the wormhole formed its usual watery liquid, they tightened their grip on their weapons and their fingers were aching to shoot.

"Oh, boy…" was the first thing Dr. Daniel Jackson, SG-1's translator and archeologist, let out. "That doesn't look very good."

Jack, or Colonel Jonathan O'Neill, the officer in command of SG-1, let out a grunt. "No kidding."

Suddenly, he saw the face of his best friend ever, Apophis. "Oh, well…" he sighed. "When you think things can't get worse…" But Jack stopped talking as soon as he saw the face of his fellow team member Daniel, full of anger and hatred. Jack wasn't really surprised though. In fact, he'd expected something like this would eventually happen. Hell, he'd probably do the same thing if your mortal enemy – in this case Apophis – had imprisoned hiswife, and then unwillingly used her as a host for a Goa'uld.

Jack sighed. With an entire unit of serpent guards, the situation was pretty hopeless. Apophis however, was on the contrary to Jack, very pleased.

"And I thought this day couldn't get any better. If that isn't the infamous Tau'ri and the shol'va Teal'c walking straight into my hands."

"You know us, anything to make you happy," Jack bit back, while assessing their situation.

_Twenty serpent guards, one Apophis, four SG-1 members. Hiding places?_ He heard the Stargate behind him disengage. _Make that one. One problem though. We need to get closer to the DHD, instead of backing away. Problem two: how are we supposed to get the gate up and running while we're surrounded by a bunch of trigger-happy serpent guards?_

But Apophis interrupted Jack's deep thoughts by giving the solution to all of Jack's problems, though he was unaware of that, of course.

"You will make a perfect asset to my plan. You there!" he yelled, while pointing at Daniel. "Give us the address of the Tau'ri world."

_Damn_, Jack thought, as he heard Daniel say 'No'. _There goes my plan._

But instead of becoming even more desperate, a new plan developed itself in his mind.

_If I dial Earth, I can give Daniel, Sam and Teal'c the chance to escape. But before any of the serpent guards can follow, I'll attack Apophis hand on hand, so that the guards will focus their attention on me. Hopefully, I'll buy enough time for the Stargate to disengage, or at least for closing the iris, before the serpent guards will continue their pursuit._

But even before he had the chance to say '_I'll do it_', Teal'c said the exact same thing, and when he looked to Jack, the Colonel knew that he was also planning to do the exact same thing.

He was about to say something along the lines of '_No Teal'c, damnit, don't sacrifice yourself like that, I'm the damn leader of SG-1, it's my damn duty to sacrifice myself in order to save my team!_', but realized that it would shatter the entire plan, so Jack decided to stay quiet, when Teal'c dialed Earth and the wormhole behind him came to life. He turned to Carter, and she nodded, to show that she understood what they were planning to do. She pressed the GDO button for SG-1's iris signal and knew this was the moment. He looked at Teal'c, who also nodded.

"On my mark…" Jack whispered. "Three, two, one… NOW!" he yelled, and jumped into the Stargate.

While Jack, Daniel and Sam traveled across the galaxy, Teal'c grabbed Apophis around his waist and threw him on the ground.

* * *

Several thousand light years away from Apophis, the three remaining SG-1 members arrived back in the SGC – and as they made there way down the ramp, Jack yelled, "Close the iris!" and General Hammond was to say, more than just a little bit confused.

"Colonel, what the _HELL_ is going on here? And where's Teal'c?"

"That depends, do you want to hear the bad news or the very bad news?"

"Spill it, Colonel."

"Well, the bad news is – we encountered our dearest friend Apophis at the other side of the gate. I think it's fair to say he was just a little more pleased to see us than we did to see him."

"And the very bad news?"

"Eh, in order to escape, Teal'c had to…"

"I see," replied the general, knowing what his second in command was implying, "Well, Jack, if you want to go for a search 'n rescue, you have a go. Take SG-teams three, five, six, eight and twelve with you."

"Thank you, _sir_."

"Depart in thirty minutes."

* * *

Somewhere in the middle of the South-Pacific ocean, on an isolated island surrounded by bright blue water and white beaches, filled with all sorts of tropical plants, was the Tracy residence, where life was peaceful and quiet. The many occupants of the house were either relaxing in the sun, swimming in the pool, eating a sandwich – or in Brains' case, designing some high-tech multi-functional tool. Little did they know, that the peace on the island was about to be rudely interrupted.

About 7500 kilometers higher, John's mind wasn't occupied with relaxing in the sun or swimming in the pool – he was, however, just about to grab a sandwich, when something on his console desk started to blink.

"Let's see what we've got here…" he said, but when he saw what exactly had interrupted his

"Alright, boys," Jeff said, "There's been a emergency situation in Ouagadougou…"

"_Where_?" Alan asked, a trace of a smile on his face, "Ouaga- what?"

"That's in Burkina Faso, squirt," Scott answered his little brother.

"Oh."

"Boys, please," Jeff continued, "A local factory has exploded, but at least five or six people are still trapped under the debris. Ready?"

"FAB," all his sons replied in unison.

"Okay then," Jeff said, still proud to see of all of his sons standing there in their IR-uniforms, "Thunderbirds are go!"

* * *

**

* * *

**

Alright, that's _definitely_ it. And I mean it this time. Six months after starting, _Lightning _is finally finished. Obviously you will have noted by now that I have removed all review responses at the end of every chapter, doesn't mean I care for you less, but I just thought it would be easier to read. To answer on a reviewer's question – I don't believe there's gonna be a sequel, but maybe I'm planning to write another Thunderbirds/Stargate SG-1 crossover… I don't know yet.

**After all, who knows what's gonna happen in the future?**

**_May Portland, June 1st 2005_**


End file.
